The Other Side of Tomorrow
by AntiqueDreams
Summary: After Jimmy's latest teleportation experiment fails, the gang finds themselves plunged into an alternate reality. There, they become entangled in a deadly conflict and slowly begin to piece together a vision of their own future far too terrible to imagine. Includes over 100 illustrations, COMPLETE
1. The Triangle

Hey everyone, and welcome to my fanfic, _The Other Side of Tomorrow_! Before we get started, there are a few points to attend to:

Firstly, I do not own Jimmy Neutron, but I'd say that that was pretty much the most obvious thing ever. Still, one can't be too careful.

Secondly, I've illustrated portions of this fanfic, which you will be able to access using the cleverly split-up links included in the author's note at the beginning of select chapters. Just so we're clear on the concept, here's a quick example. To view the image, remove the spaces and copy+paste the link into a new browser window: _ aca ciath orn .de vian ta rt (dotcom) /art/Jimmy-X-Cindy-B-L-E-N-D-84222614_ . You can also check out all my art on my Deviantart account profile_, Acaciathorn . deviantart . c o m . _If you want the FULL 100+ illustrations, they're compiled in a folder here: acaci athor n.d e vian tar t (dotcom) /favourites/49763230 (warning: some of these images are very spoilerific, so you might want to wait until you've read like half the fic before you start perusing)._  
_

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, I'd like to thank everyone who read this story and gave me feedback over the years. Your patience deserves its own spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. Hopefully someday when my books are flying off the shelves, you can point and be like "Wow, I remember her! Dude, wait a second! I helped her on that fic she wrote way back when...man, I should get a cut of the profits!"

Anyway, happy reading, and an especially loving shout-out to all my friends on IDOJ. :)

* * *

**The Other Side of Tomorrow**

_A Fanfic by Mara S._

**Chapter 1: The Triangle**

It was a peaceful, starry night in Retroville, and Jimmy was down in his lab tinkering with his latest experiment. Moonlight filtered down from the open skylight above and danced over him, splashing his workstation with blue ripples and casting an eerie glow over his face. He was so immersed in his work that he jumped when Goddard leaped up onto the table.

"It's just you, Goddard," he said, voice unsteadied. "You scared me a little."

His companion responded with a whine, and Jimmy paused to wipe the sweat off his forehead. "I know boy, I'm tired too. I'd like to go to bed, but if I don't finish this invention now, I won't be able to bring it in for show and tell tomorrow."

"Grr, bark bark!"

Jimmy knelt down to stroke his pet. "Don't worry about me; I've pulled all-nighters before. Besides, I think I've finally got this thing figured out. See?"

Jimmy held out his hand to Goddard and uncurled his fingers, revealing a small red triangle in the palm of his hand. The triangle pulsed with a heartbeat of its own, and an aura of shimmering light danced around its edges like a swarm of tiny fireflies. Goddard sniffed at the item and then whimpered and backed away.

"Isn't it great? By combining an advanced astroruby microchip, garnet, rose zirconium ore, and just a _touch_ of element 115, I have once again raised the bar and created a new standard in teleportation technology. When combined with a modified GPS, the Triangle can instantaneously transport a person or object to any location that they desire – and, unlike its predecessor the Time Booth, it's easily portable."

"Grr, bark!"

"Of course I know what I'm doing!" scoffed Jimmy, straightening quickly. "Just think, Goddard. No more taking the bus to school, no more waiting in traffic. The Triangle will give me the ability to go anywhere I want and return before I'm even missed! Think of what I could do? Ha, think what I shouldn't do, but will do anyway!"

"Eow, grr, bark bark!"

"What do you mean, I'm going to get myself and everyone else killed? My invention is completely safe!"

Before he even finished his sentence, the triangle began to vibrate. A moment later the light around it surged, giving out a massive pulse that knocked them both over.

Jimmy smiled sheepishly as he picked himself up off the floor. "Oops. Guess I still have a few bugs to work out. Go on, Goddard, you can go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning. Ugh, stupid unstable chemical bonds…"

Goddard shot one last dejected look at his master before curling up into a ball and powering down. Muttering to himself, Jimmy turned back to his workstation for the remainder of the night.

* * *

Aaaaaand that was anticlimactic. This is seriously the shortest and most uneventful introduction I've ever written, which is really misleading because this fanfic is in fact ridiculously long and jam-packed with action. Don't write me off yet...stay tuned for chapter 2!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	2. The Classic Show and Tell Chapter

Chapter 2 has landed. Comments welcome, as always.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Classic Show and Tell Chapter**

It was the next day at school, and the students were busy making their bi-weekly show and tell presentations. Sheen took his seat after having shocked the class with his 'limited edition' Ultralord underwear, and Ms. Fowl came to the front.

"Settle down chillldrennn! There's only one person left for show and tell, and you know what thaaat means!"

There was a collective moan among the students.

Ms. Fowl let out another squawk. "That's right, class! It's time for another excitttinnngg presentation by JimmmmmyyyBEBOCK!"

Jimmy strutted up to the front of the room, and Ms. Fowl leaned down and whispered in his ear.

"Jimmy, can you pleeaaaase keep the radioactivity to a minimum this time? Half of the students are still glowing from laaaast weeeek's experimeeenntBRAWK!"

"Of course, Ms. Fowl. I assure you, my demonstration this week will be up to the highest safety standards."

With a chicken-like flap of her arms, Ms. Fowl took her seat, and Jimmy cleared his throat to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen of our fair classroom…and Cindy…"

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"…Be prepared to be awed and entertained by my latest invention. Before beginning, however, I feel obligated to provide a disclaimer. I warn you, what you are about to see may be too much for your meager minds to comprehend."

The kids gave him a blank stare. Nick tossed up a coin and caught it. "Dude, just get on with it."

"Ya, some of us would like to get out of here before we actually learn something," said Butch.

"Fine. Unimaginative troglodytes...Ahem! Without further ado, I present to you what might possibly be…and I know I've said this before…my greatest invention ever!"

Reaching into his pocket, he fished out the red triangle. He held it up above his head, and when it caught the light, it sparkled with a beautiful crimson aura.

Britney leaned forward in her seat, eyes gleaming. "OOOH! It's so pretty!"

"Hey, Check out the bling!" sneered Nick, pointing. "So, Nerdbomb, you making jewelry now too?"

The students laughed raucously.

"It's not jewelry!" protested Jimmy. "It's a highly sophisticated teleportation device! It can transport people or objects to any location instantly. All I have to do is attach it to my specially designed Quantum GPS here." He pulled a GPS from his other pocket.

"Greatest invention ever, huh?" scoffed Cindy. "How many times have we heard THAT before? Do us all a favor and skip the theatrics, Neutron. I for one am eager to see a demonstration. Maybe you'd like to start by teleporting yourself somewhere far, far away...say, the center of the sun?"

"Funny, Cindy. But no. I have a better idea. How about I transport _you_ somewhere very, very near...say, the top of that flagpole out there?"

"Excuse me?"

Jimmy grinned menacingly as he adjusted a few settings on the GPS. Before Cindy could say another word, he aimed the triangle at her. A beam of the sun's light shot through it, refracted, and hit her square in the stomach. She glowed red for a second, then vanished, instantaneously reappearing on top of the flagpole outside. She wrapped her arms and legs around it with a yelp.

"Neutron, you jerk!" she called, shaking her fist at him. "Get me down from here!"

He ignored her cries and instead turned back to the class. "As you can see, the Triangle uses solar power to initiate the transmission of objects, or in this case people, from one place to another. And it works like a charm, if I do say so myself. Any questions?"

Sheen jumped from his chair and grabbed Jimmy by the shirt.

"Jimmy! You have to let me use that thing! I need to get to Ultralord's homeworld in the Nebulon Galaxy, right now! The festival of heroism is about to begin, and if I don't make it there, life will be meaningless!" He dramatically 'fainted' on Libby's desk, and she pushed him off.

Libby leaned forward in earnest. "No! I need to use it to get into Smallie Big's concert! C'mon Jimmy! I'll buy ya a t-shirt while I'm there!"

"Hey that's not fair," whined Carl. "I want to use it! Jimmy can I use it please? I want to go to South America!"

Butch rose up and loomed over him. He curled his fingers into a fist. "You'd better give it to me, Neutron, OR ELSE."

"Guys, you can't…."

Britney interrupted him. "Like, what about me? I want it!"

Nick was next. "Uh, dudes, I think you're all forgetting about ME here. I mean, really…"

Ms. Fowl rose from her chair and joined in. "Jimmy, is there aaaannnyyy chance that it could send me on an all expenses paaaaiid vaaaacaationnnnBEBOCK?"

"Guys, back up!" shouted Jimmy, raising his voice to speak over the crowd. "There's something I have to tell you! Hey, guys? Hello! Hey, would everyone please LISTEN UP!"

His audience blinked in surprise.

"Thank you! What I've been _trying_ to say is that NONE of you can use the Triangle. I haven't perfected the system yet, and the chemical bonds are still incredibly unstable. If you let it build up too much of a charge, it could scatter your atoms or even plunge you into an alternate universe!"

Britney's lower lip curled into a pout. "You're like, such a party pooper!"

"Seriously, dude," said Nick, easing himself back into his chair. "Why'd you even bother to show us the thing if we couldn't use it?"

There was a loud bang as Cindy barged back in through the doorway, a smudge of dirt on her cheek and fiery revenge burning in her eyes.

"I can answer that question, Nick. He showed you because he's a big, pig-headed, arrogant, show-off loser! He just wanted to remind all of you how smart and wonderful he is. RIGHT JERKTRON!"

There was a moment of tense silence, and then the bell rang. Ms. Fowl and the kids took one look at the angry faces of Jimmy and Cindy and then bolted for the door. As soon as they were gone, Cindy stomped over to Jimmy and got right in his face.

"What is wrong with you? I just fell off a flagpole and practically ate my own weight in dirt thanks to you!"

Jimmy glanced down at his hand, curling and uncurling his fingers demurely. "Well then I guess you should have held on tighter, shouldn't you have?"

"I can't even believe you! You have absolutely no feelings at all, do you?"

"Me have no feelings?" he scoffed. "You should be talking, little Miss ice heart. The day you care about something other than yourself is the day curved space freezes over!"

"You're just jealous because I'll NEVER care about you!"

Jimmy was taken aback. "What? Give me a break! You just can't deal with the fact that I regularly demonstrate my superior intellect!"

"Superior intellect? How about superior nastiness, arrogance, and conceit!"

Jimmy gave her a pleasant smile. "Wow Cindy, you do such a marvelous job of describing yourself. Maybe you're not so wholly stupid after all."

"UGH! You little jerk! I hate you!"

She pushed him, and he pushed her back, and they continued arguing louder and louder. Sheen slapped himself on the forehead, and Libby walked up next to him.

"There they go again," she said. "Why can't they just get it together? I'm _so_ sick of all this fightin'."

"You said it, Libs. Psycho girl over there needs to get some serious anger management."

"Um 'scuse me? Are you insultin' my best friend?"

"No!" Sheen looked both ways, then lowered his voice to a mutter. "...But I don't think it would hurt if she saw a shrink."

Libby whirled to face him. "I heard that! And I wouldn't be talkin' if I were you. At least she isn't a manic sugar addict who is in love with a stupid doll."

"It's an action figure, darn it! Get it through your head!"

Libby's head tipped from side to side in time with her words. "Doll! Doll! Doll! Doll!"

"Shut up! I'm not listening LA LA LA LA LA LA LA…"

Libby and Sheen began arguing as well, and Carl stood off to one side, watching them all fight. He started to shake, then finally screeched at the top of his lungs.

"STOP IT! STOP! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE!"

They all froze and stared at Carl in surprise.

"Carl?" said Jimmy, approaching his friend slowly.

Carl wiped his mouth sheepishly. "Sorry, guys. But I couldn't take it anymore. Your constant fighting was aggravating my irritable bowel syndrome."

"You're right, Carl," sighed Libby, "we're actin' completely ridiculous. Here me 'n Sheen were arguin' about the other two arguing. Let's all just take a deep breath and go our separate ways."

Jimmy nodded agreement. "That sounds like a good idea to me." He turned and walked towards the door, then motioned for Sheen and Carl. "C'mon guys, we've got to get back to the lab. I need the two of you to be test subjects in my catastrophic meltdown simulator."

Carl shifted his weight back and forth nervously. "Now Jimmy, when you say 'catastrophic meltdown'…"

"Don't worry Carl; it's totally safe. It's only a simulation, after all."

Jimmy exited the room, and Carl and Sheen followed obediently behind him. Cindy kicked the corner of his desk, then plunked down in her chair and set her lips in a pout.

Libby put her hands on her hips. "Jeez, Cindy, moody much?"

"Back off, Libs. Just leave me alone."

"Why are you so worked up? So what, he poofed ya outside onto the flag pole. He's an idiot, you said so yourself."

Cindy looked away. "He didn't even say he was sorry. I could have been hurt, and he didn't even care."

Cindy got up and stalked out of the room, leaving Libby staring after her in bewilderment.

* * *

Ahh, the classic show and tell chapter. I just couldn't resist. Hope you enjoyed the Ms. Fowl goodness…that woman SERIOUSLY cracks me up.

Anyway, make sure that you enjoy good ol' familiar Retroville while it lasts, because pretty soon things are gonna go loco - hopefully in the good way, and not in the melodramatic soap opera way - although there might be just a touch of that thrown in for good measure xD

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	3. Glow

Another absurdly short chapter…this time a little bit less uneventful. Read on, JN lovers, read on.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Glow**

Later that evening, Libby and Cindy paid a visit to the Candy Bar. Cindy's food sat in front of her, untouched, as Libby slurped away at a milkshake. The blonde stared absently out the window, and after a moment Libby put down her shake and laid a hand on Cindy's shoulder.

"What is up with you?" she asked, peering into her friend's face. "You've been actin' weird, and you haven't even eaten anything."

Cindy winced. "I don't feel good."

"What do ya mean? Got a stomachache or somethin'?"

"Ya, a really bad one, but it's not just that. I feel..._off_ somehow."

"In what way?"

Cindy considered, then turned to her friend with a frown. "You know that crushing feeling you get when you go too far underwater? Like in the summertime, when you swim to the bottom of the deep end?"

Libby nodded. "Uh-huh…"

"Well, it's kind of like that. It's like the air is being crushed out of me."

"That doesn't sound good. When did this start?"

"After school, actually. It didn't hurt too badly at first, but the symptoms have gotten worse. Oh no, here it comes again!" Cindy doubled over and grabbed her stomach in agony. "Libby!"

Libby pulled up the edge of Cindy's shirt to inspect the affected area, and her eyes practically bugged out of her head.

"Cindy, I don't know how to break this to you, but...your stomach is GLOWING."

Cindy glanced down at her shimmering red belly and flinched, accidentally knocking her milkshake to the floor. "I don't understand!" she cried, inhaling sharply. "It wasn't like this a few minutes ago! What the heck is happening to me?"

There was a pause.

"I dunno…but do you think this could possibly have _anythin'_ to do with that red triangle Jimmy used on ya today?"

The two girls stared at each other for a moment. Then Cindy jumped up on the table and thrust her fist into the air.

"Neutron, you are SO DEAD!"

* * *

Predictable? Yup. Jimmy's invention goes wrong and messes everything up. Will it stay predictable? Not for long!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	4. Girl Alert!

Time for things to get kind of/sort of exciting. By the way, thanks to everyone who's read this far! I REALLY appreciate it…you all get a cookie.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Girl Alert!**

Meanwhile, down in the lab, Jimmy had just finished conducting his latest experiment with the catastrophic meltdown simulator. Carl crawled out of the machine and collapsed on the floor, the ceiling whirling above his head. He hiccupped, and Sheen and Jimmy rushed over to him.

"Jimmy," breathed Carl with a moan, "I thought you said that the simulator wasn't going to make me sick."

Jimmy looked at the ground. "It wasn't supposed to Carl, but something went wrong. It seems that my catastrophic meltdown simulator experienced...well, a catastrophic meltdown."

"Ha!" said Sheen. "Talk about irony."

Jimmy glared at him. "We'll just have to try again later, right Carl? Carl?"

Carl had hidden himself behind the simulator and was busy revisiting whatever he had eaten for lunch. Jimmy began to walk toward him, but at that exact moment, a buzzing alarm went off. Vox's singsong voice echoed through the small room.

"Girl alert. Girl alert. Outer perimeter breached, females within five feet…four feet…three feet…BEEEEEP!"

"Aha! Fresh targets!" said Sheen. "Shoot 'em! Shoot 'em I tell ya!"

"Cut it out Sheen!" Jimmy pushed him aside and rushed over to Vox.

"Alert. Alert. The Anti-girl weapons system has been activated. Please choose method of annihilation: quick and painless, or slow and horrible."

"No, VOX! Shut down the anti-girl weapons system, and activate the clubhouse surveillance camera!"

A TV monitor flickered to life, and Cindy and Libby could be seen standing out in front of the clubhouse. Cindy was kicking the door as Libby pushed on Vox, apparently unaware that it was a DNA scanner and not a doorbell.

"I know you can hear me down there, Neutron!" shouted Cindy. "You've got this whole place wired. Now let me in!"

"Jimmy, let us in!" pleaded Libby. "It's an emergency! Cindy's in big trouble!"

"That's right, freakboy! And you're going to be in even BIGGER trouble if you don't…WAAAAHHHHHH!"

Cindy was cut short when the floor gave out beneath her. The girls found themselves sliding down a plastic, yellow-colored tube that looked remarkably like something you'd find inside a hamster's cage. The tube took a sharp dip and Libby vanished, and a second later Cindy rocketed out of the tube and crash-landed on top of her friend.

"Get off me!" croaked Libby. "I can't breathe!"

Cindy got to her feet just in time for the boys to run into the room, and she assaulted Jimmy with a fierce stare.

"OK Neutron, what the heck did you do to me?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Don't play dumb! This one's got 'you' written all over it, so stop beating around the bush and fess up!"

"Fess up to what? You know, it would be really nice if you'd TELL me what you're angry about before you come down here and start making accusations. Now what is this all about? Go on, enlighten me!"

"It's your stupid triangle!" she said in a shrill voice. "It did something to me!"

"Did something?"

Cindy lifted the corner of her shirt. "Look, Spewtron! My stomach is glowing!"

Jimmy's eyes grew wide, and he backed up a step. Carl looked away, and Sheen broke out into a huge smile.

"Oh wow, cool! This is just like the time I swallowed that glowstick on the fourth of July! Ha! I was like a human bug light for a week!" Sheen poked Cindy's stomach, and she swatted his hand away.

"Back off!"

"Hold on, Cindy, let me check something here…" Jimmy inspected the glow before turning to the table behind him. He grabbed a silver handheld device and scanned Cindy with it, then punched in a series of numbers and waited while it calculated the results. He stared at the reading for a second and then staggered back. "Uh-oh…"

"What do you mean, 'Uh-oh'?" Cindy scowled. "Listen, you idiot, this may be a big joke for you, but it isn't for me! So stop fooling around and cut to the chase!"

"I'm afraid it's not a joke at all, Cindy. It's very serious."

Libby looked Jimmy in the eye. "How serious?"

"Life and death serious. You guys had better sit down."

They all obeyed, except for Cindy, who merely crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Listen, Cindy, I may not have much time to tell you this, so listen carefully. The reason you appear to be turning red is due to a phenomenon called 'red shift'. Your atoms are being pulled away from us at an incredible rate of speed, which causes their energy to shift to lower wavelengths."

Libby threw him a quizzical look. "Whaddya mean, her atoms are being pulled away? She's standin' right here, isn't she?"

"Well, yes, but…"

Cindy cut in. "Is there a point to this? Could you PLEASE stop reciting scientific nonsense and get to the point?"

"OK, let me see if I can explain. It seems that something went terribly wrong when I transported you to the top of the flagpole today."

"What a shock."

He continued. "This is an incredibly rare side effect of teleportation – somehow, during your molecular reconstruction, parts of you got left inside the extra-dimensional pathway. The Triangle must have surged when I used it on you, and now your atoms are in conflict with the laws of physics in this universe."

Libby reeled back. "Say _what_?"

Carl shared her reaction. "I'm confused Jimmy…"

Jimmy's tone became grave. "I don't know how else to tell you this Cindy, so I'll just say it straight out. The laws of physics can't handle your presence here. As we speak, your atoms are being pulled out of this reality and into another. In other words, you are being sucked in to an alternate universe."

There was a shocked silence as the kids stared at him.

Cindy's jaw dropped open. "WHAT? An _alternate universe_?"

"Within minutes the pull will become so strong that you will effectively collapse under your own gravity, creating a warp in the fabric of space-time. Then, you and any other objects in the immediate area will be sucked forever into another reality."

Cindy's face crumpled unexpectedly, and she slumped down. "I can't believe it," she whispered. "You really did it this time, Neutron."

Libby whirled to the genius angrily. "How _could_ you, Jimmy? I've seen you stoop pretty low before, but I never thought ya'd actually hurt her!"

"I didn't meant for this to happen, I swear! It was an accident!"

"I don't care!" said Libby, stamping her foot. "We've had enough accidents. Now fix this!"

"I-I don't know if I can…her atoms are already in the process of transitioning, so none of my instruments will work on them."

"Isn't there anythin' we can do?"

Jimmy considered, then his eyes lit up. "Cindy, I need you to take off your pants."

"_Excuse me_? If saving myself means giving you a show, then I'll take eternal exile, thanks."

"I'm serious! I need to see how far the red glow has progressed. If it's in the early stages, I might be able to reverse it."

At that moment, Cindy's arms and face began to glow red as well. "Does that answer your question, Dirttron?"

Carl twisted from side to side. "Oh, Cindy's blushing! I think she likes you!"

Sheen smacked him. "Carl, don't be stupid! She's being sucked into an inescapable void of doom! Show some sympathy, darn it! ...Hey Cindy, when you're gone, can I have your stuff?"

"NO!"

"Guys, get serious!" said Libby. "What are we gonna do?"

Sheen scratched his chin in mock contemplation. "Um, I don't know, how about RUN LIKE HECK!"

"Ya, if we stay, won't we get sucked in too?" asked Carl.

Jimmy seemed torn. "Well, yes, but we can't just leave her! Cindy wouldn't stand a chance all alone in an alternate universe. I'm...I'm going with her."

"Me too," said Libby, grabbing Cindy's hand. "I'm not lettin' my best friend go through this alone."

Sheen draped his arm over Libby's shoulder. "And I cannot let my fair lady cross over to the other side without me! I shall accompany you, my sweet."

"I don't wanna be left alone! I'm coming too."

Goddard was the last to join the circle. "Bark bark!"

"Then it's settled," said Jimmy, scanning their faces. "We'll all go together."

Cindy gave a huff. "Well, as touching as this is, Neutron, I'd like to remind you that it was your stupid fault in the first place!"

Before anything else could be said, Cindy's hair color changed, and her whole body grew bright like flame. When she opened her mouth to speak, the light was nearly unbearable.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH! I'm burning up!"

Sheen's eyes brightened. "Wow! This is just like Ultralord episode 393 when Ultralord found himself in the clutches of the wicked Dr. Soevilhescaresyomama! Except that he's a guy, he wasn't glowing red, and he wasn't getting sucked into anything. Actually, this situation is more like episode 105…."

"Knock it off, Sheen!" interrupted Libby. "This is no time for cartoon talk."

Jimmy looked around at his friends. "OK, guys, this might be rough. Once Cindy hits critical mass, we'll all get sucked in behind her. We can't afford to get separated in the dimensional void, so grab on to whoever is next to you and don't let go."

Sheen waggled his eyebrows at Libby, and she took a step away. A moment later there was a noise like the tearing of paper, and objects in the room soared into the air and began whirling around them. Cindy held her head in pain as the walls started to shake, and the contents of the room whipped around them in a tornado-like flurry. Libby grabbed onto Cindy's arm, Sheen wrapped his arms around Libby's waist, and Carl flung himself onto Sheen's shoe. Jimmy coaxed Cindy's other hand down from her head and held it in his own.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to, I swear..."

Cindy didn't seem to hear him. Her glowing white eyes stared fixedly into space as flame consumed her body, and a second later her form vanished entirely. There was a flash of light, and then a gaping black hole materialized where she had once stood. Goddard disappeared into the void, and Jimmy and the others found themselves being pulled towards it.

"Don't fight it, guys!" Jimmy called out. "We have to follow her!"

They stopped struggling, and the five of them were sucked into utter blackness.

* * *

Oh no! Cliffhanger! Whatever shall we do? Read chapter 5, of course. ;-). Oh, did you like my scientific BS? I'm proud of my handiwork in that regard. It's fun to write dialogue that sounds like it might have some basis in fact, but totally doesn't.

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	5. Sea of Darkness

Presenting Chapter 5, which, all things considered, isn't _that_ bad.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Sea of Darkness**

They awoke to find themselves in endless darkness. There was a no noise except for a faint echo like dripping water, and no breath of wind stirred the hot air. The group remained paralyzed until Sheen broke the silence.

"Who turned out the lights? Jeez, I feel like my heart and my bladder just traded places! Guys….? Guys, are you there?"

Jimmy's reply echoed out of the void, followed by Libby's and Carl's.

"I'm here."

"Uh-huh."

"Me too."

"OK," said Jimmy, "everyone stay calm. Goddard, activate emergency lights!"

Goddard's back panels opened, and a bulb flickered on. Orange light flooded their surroundings, which turned out to be a small cavern of some sort. Stalactites hung from the ceiling like rock icicles, little beads of water falling from their tips.

"Jimmy," began Carl, trembling as his eyes moved over the cavern walls, "where are we?"

"It appears to be a cave of some sort, but I can't be sure. This _is_ an alternate universe after all, so we have no way of knowing what we'll find."

"I don't like it here. Those things on the ceiling are like big ugly teeth waiting to chomp down on us."

"I'm not to fond of the décor either, Carl, but there's nothing we can do about it. We came here to save Cindy…"

"Where is my girl anyway?" asked Libby, glancing about. "Shouldn't she be here too?

"Yes, that's what worries me. Come on, let's..."

The sound of footsteps came flying toward them from beyond their circle of light, and Carl nearly tripped over himself.

"Wh-Who's there?"

"Ya!" Sheen jumped out in front of the others and began throwing punches at an imaginary foe. "Come out and face us like a man!"

The footsteps bounced off the walls like cruel laughter, and Sheen cowered and dove behind Libby. They all stood breathlessly as the footfalls grew louder, until at last a familiar figure darted out from an alcove in the wall.

Jimmy exhaled in relief. "Cindy! You're OK!"

He reached for her arm, but she pushed him away in disgust. "Of course I'm OK, no thanks to you_."_

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, don't even get me started," she answered bitterly. "My list of complaints against you would take YEARS to read. But for starters, it sure would've been nice if you'd been a little quicker on the uptake. I must have wandered around this cave for half an hour! What, did you have second thoughts about coming to rescue me?"

Libby pushed back a braid. "Cind, what are ya talkin' about? We came in right behind you."

"Libby's right," said Jimmy. "No more than thirty seconds passed between the time you left and the time we left."

"Um, NO you didn't. I've been here for at least twenty minutes."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! Unlike _some_ people, I'm not a complete idiot."

Carl tilted his head to one side. "'Some' people? Who are they?"

Cindy rolled her eyes, and Jimmy scratched his chin in thought.

"Hmm, interesting…there must be some sort of time dilation between our universe and this one. It appears that time passes faster here than back at home. Perhaps if the spacetime fabric were stretched tighter in this universe, then the decreased quantum entanglement would result in a temporal displacement paradox…"

"Ya, ya," broke in Cindy, "not that this isn't FASCINATING, but there are more pressing issues at hand. For starters, let's get out of this cave. I can't stand it in here another second. Besides, you're not going to believe what I found outside."

Sheen turned his back to her and counted on his fingers. "Unless it's Ultralord, food, a bathroom, or a bunch of runway babes, I'm not interested."

"Just shut up and follow me!"

The others trailed behind Cindy as she navigated her way through the cave. Every few yards she stopped and ran her hands along the cavern walls, as if feeling for landmarks.

"OK, if we go a little further down this passageway and then turn right, we should find the exit…Aha!" Cindy pointed to a patch of sunlight up ahead. "There's the end. See it?"

Jimmy's eyebrows shot up. "Wow Cindy, I'm impressed. I had no idea you were so adept at navigation."

"Believe me," she said with a snort, "I wandered around for a long time before I found the way out."

"Well, Cindy, if we ever get back to our own universe, you can look forward to an exciting career as a spelunker."

She gave half a laugh as they continued walking towards the exit. "No thanks."

"Um, yeah," cut in Sheen, "maybe it's just me, but what the HECK is a spelugger?"

Jimmy gestured at the passageway around them. "Not 'spelugger', Sheen, _Spelunker_. You know, a person who explores caves."

"Oh yeah, now I remember! My Uncle Miguel was spelunker. He was a professional bat guano gatherer back before he started robbing convenience stores. He used to eat the stuff on our family camping trips…apparently it's considered a delicacy in some countries or something. I tried some dog guano once, but I didn't think it was all it's cracked up to be."

Libby's lips curled in revulsion. "Eww! Are you tellin' me that you ate dog doo?"

"It was a delicacy!"

She shuddered. "New rule, Sheen: from now on, you gotta stay at least ten feet away from me at all times."

They reached the exit, and Cindy pointed out into the glaring light of the open. Her voice rang out loud and clear into the vast expanse beyond.

"Guys, look!"

* * *

This is nothing compared to the cliffhanging I'd_ like_ to leave you with. Cue evil author laugh…

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickeolodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S.  
_


	6. Land of Eternal Sunrise

This chapter has a buttload of J/C and S/L for no apparent reason other than I felt like putting it in. Hooray!

* * *

**Chapter 6: Land of Eternal Sunrise**

Everyone squinted and blinked as their eyes adjusted. A second later, they stood in awed silence. Just outside the cave was a pastel wasteland that extended in all directions; there were no mountains, no water, and no signs of any life. The flat rocks that littered the landscape shimmered with a tie-dye pattern of purple, pink, light blue, and orange. Three tired-looking suns hung in the sky, radiating the painted desert with their searing heat. Beneath their rays, the land was spectacularly desolate and spectacularly beautiful.

Libby gazed out at the landscape in wonder. "Wow…this place is unbelievable. I've never seen anythin' like it...not even on an album cover!"

"Libby," said Sheen, gazing at her dreamily, "in this light, you look just like a watercolor painting."

"Aww, that's...actually kinda sweet. I take back what I said about standing ten feet away from me."

Cindy, eyeing her friend in annoyance, interjected. "Ya, it's a watercolor painting all right...minus one thing: the WATER. We're in a desert, in case that slipped your mind."

Jimmy began pushing buttons on his wristwatch. "Cindy's right. The scenery may look beautiful, but without clean water we're all in serious danger. I'll try to figure out a way to get off this planet (if that is what it is), but in the meantime we should survey the area and try to locate a source of sustenance. If we're unable to secure what we need, we'll return here."

Cindy nodded agreement. "Good idea. Should we split up, or…"

"No, we should stick together," he said, closing the panel on his watch. "We have absolutely no idea what kind of stuff we'll find here. This alternate universe could be practically identical to ours, or it could be vastly different. We can't take any chances."

"Jimmy," panted Carl, fanning himself, "I'm already starting to overheat. Is there any way we can bring some shade with us?"

"Sure thing, Carl. Goddard, umbrella please!"

"Grr, bark!"

Goddard's back panel opened, and a gloved hand produced a parasol decorated with ruffles and pink ribbons. Jimmy eyed it disdainfully as he handed it to his friend.

"Here you go."

"Hey, that's girly!" protested Carl, growing redder by the second. "I don't want that!"

"Sorry, Carl. That umbrella was part of Goddard's emergency "cute girl stuck in the rain" protocol."

Cindy scowled at him. "Hey, NERDtron, can't you use Goddard to scan for water or life forms on the planet's surface? If we're gonna go wandering around this wasteland, I'd like to know what kind of things we're going to run into."

"I can try…but I'm not sure if the life forms in this universe would even be recognizable to his scanners. Oh well, I guess it's worth a shot. Goddard, scan for carbon-based life!"

A radar screen appeared on Goddard's chest, and a moment later two red dots started to flicker in the upper left hand corner.

Jimmy's eyes grew wide. "I don't believe it! Two humanoid life forms within walking distance!"

"Wow, cool!" exclaimed Sheen. "What are the chances of that?"

"709,564,876,398,000 to 1, actually."

"AAAH, BIG number! My brain!"

"Sheen?"

"It was rhetorical question darn it! I didn't really want to know!"

Jimmy scratched his arm in embarrassment. "Oh. Sorry."

"So, what are we gonna do?" Libby's tone was uncertain. "Should we try to make contact with them?"

Carl shifted uneasily, twirling his umbrella. "I don't know if that's a good idea. What if they're ferocious cannibals and they've been lying in wait so they can cook us? I don't want to get eaten! I don't even taste good!"

Jimmy planted a hand on his hip. "Carl, get a hold of yourself. Even if they were cannibals, there's five of us and only two of them. We'd be able to overpower them if necessary."

"So…we're gonna go?" asked Libby, looking from one to the other for an answer.

Jimmy shrugged. "I don't see why not. Who knows? Maybe they'll be able to help us. We certainly need any help we can get at this point."

Cindy blew a strand of hair out of her eye. "Well, I don't know what we're waiting for. Let's get on with it."

"Right!" said Sheen, vaulting in front of the others. "OK everybody: To Oz! Follow the yellow brick…follow the yellow brick…follow the yellow brick road…!"

He skipped off, singing in his off-key voice, while the rest of the kids stared after him. After a minute, Sheen caught on and whirled around.

"C'mon guys, what's the matter with you? Pick up the pace!"

"Uh, Sheen?" said Jimmy, pointing in the opposite direction, "The humanoid life forms are THAT way."

"Oh.' Sheen blinked, then almost immediately recommenced his animated serenade. "OK everyone, to the LEFT! Follow the yellow brick…follow the yellow brick…c'mon people I can't hear you!"

Jimmy shook his head, and they followed Sheen as he sang and skipped into the distance. As they headed deeper into the desert, the largest of the three suns moved higher into the sky. Cascades of orange light baked the arid terrain and sent waves of heat rippling across the sand like liquid. The atmosphere grew hotter and hotter, until the kids' breathing gave way to strangled gasps. The more their lungs dragged in the parched air, the more their pace began to slow, until each step seemed to take an eternity.

"It's…so….hot…" panted Libby, dragging her limbs listlessly behind her.

Jimmy wiped sweat off his forehead, and then shaded his eyes to look up at the sky. "I know Libby. But according to my calculations, it won't last much longer. Sunset should occur in approximately 1 minute and 37 seconds."

The kids stared at the horizon in anticipation, waiting for the smallest of the three suns to finally dip out of sight.

"Oh thank Ultralord," exulted Sheen, swooning, "there's only two left! Now we won't perish under these cruel desert suns!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, another MUCH bigger star rose above the horizon, bombarding the landscape with its screaming, blinding glare.

Sheen threw his hands in the air. "Aw, man! Now that's just not fair!"

The kids continued on beneath the mocking star, and it didn't take long before the desert temperatures became overwhelming. Their walk slowed to an exhausted shuffle, and at last they stopped altogether and flung themselves into the partial shade of a blue and pink boulder.

"Need…need inhaler!" wheezed Carl, before lapsing into a coughing fit. He threw aside the umbrella and slumped down against the rock.

Libby held her face in her hands. "Oh, this is awful! My poor skin can't take this kind of abuse!"

"YOUR poor skin?" said Cindy. "What about me? I'm gonna have a _killer_ sunburn tomorrow."

Jimmy sent a frown her way. "I hate to break this to you Vortex, but your epidermis is the least of our worries right now. Humans can only go 96 hours without water, and in this kind of heat, we have even less time. We can't stay here; we need to keep moving."

Sheen pulled himself closer to the rock, hugging its pitted surface. "I don't want to go. Leave me alone."

"C'mon guys," Jimmy pleaded, "just a little longer…Goddard's scan shows that the life forms are only a mile or so away. We can do it!"

Carl panted, eyes glazed and distant. "A WHOLE mile? Jimmy. I can't go on like this. Too hot…."

"Maybe we could just stay here for a little bit longer…" said Libby.

Jimmy jumped to his feet. "No! We need to make contact with these beings as soon as possible. They're carbon based like us, which means they have to have water in order to survive. We'll be able to get some from them. Now, GET UP! We need to get to them before they leave!"

Cindy and Libby reluctantly obeyed, but the boys refused to budge. They lay against each other, blurred like mirages in the intense heat.

"Just leave me behind…" wheezed Carl, ribcage heaving.

Sheen jerked his thumb lazily over his shoulder in Carl's direction. "Ya, just leave him behind. He's making shade, and I want it."

Jimmy did not look amused. "Come on, guys!"

Carl fanned himself absently, and Sheen looked off into the distance, pretending not to listen.

"Hey, I'm talking to you! Hello…Carl? Sheen!"

Cindy strolled up beside him. "Step aside Neutron. You just gotta show them who's boss, that's all. Watch and learn."

She pushed Carl aside, and then kicked over the boulder that they were sitting under. It rolled away in a maelstrom of dust and rock fragments, before finally tumbling down a gully and out of sight. They stared at it in disbelief, and after the initial dumbstruck moment, Sheen jumped up and grabbed Cindy by the shoulders.

"You sick wench! Look what you've done! Now we have NO shade!"

Cindy made a fist. "You're gonna have no TEETH if you don't get a move on! Now let's go!"

Carl struggled to stand up, and Jimmy extended a hand to help his friend. Carl left the parasol where it lay, and he and Sheen sent Cindy a killer glare before heading off at a snail's pace.

"She-devil," muttered Sheen, casting her a backwards glance from narrowed eyes.

"I heard that! I hope you run faster than you think, ultraloser!"

She darted forward after them, and the two boys squealed and took off running.

"That's right! Run, boys, run!" she dusted off her hands in satisfaction and turned to Jimmy. "See, Neutron? All it takes is a little motivational speaking."

She sauntered off with a big grin plastered on her face, and he stared after her, a bit glazed in the eyes.

"Hey Cindy! Wait!"

He ran to catch up, and Libby slapped herself on the forehead. "Oh, boy. Here we go."

Cindy turned and gave him a melting smile. "So Neutron," she began, playing with a lock of her hair, "what kinds of things do you think we'll find in this alternate universe?"

Jimmy snapped out of his trance-like stare session to produce an answer. "Oh…uh, it's hard to tell, really. It could be almost identical to ours, as I said, or it could be radically different. Obviously, whatever we find will be about 10 to 11 years ahead of our universe because of the time dilation. Other than that, there's no way of telling unless we find some more information."

"So, um…what planet is this? Could it be Earth?"

"Well, I guess, but it's highly unlikely. After all, we only have one sun, and this planet has multiple suns."

"True…" she said.

Jimmy started to say something else, but was cut short when Sheen and Carl forced themselves between him and Cindy.

"Somehow I don't think running was such a good idea…" moaned Carl, red in the face and sweating profusely.

"Whew! What a workout!" whistled Sheen. "So Cindy, are you feeling less evil now?"

Cindy glared at them, and Carl gave a screech and sped away again. Sheen, however, hung back and approached Libby.

"May I join you, oh glorious one?" he asked, bowing deeply.

"Sure," she replied, before leveling a no-nonsense look at him. "And Sheen…don't call me that."

He fell into step beside Libby, and the pair walked on together behind Cindy and Jimmy. The latter avoided one another's gaze, until at the exact same moment they both glanced back and saw Sheen and Libby elbowing each other flirtatiously. They blushed and looked away. Jimmy's arm brushed up against Cindy's, and they both froze in their tracks. There was a breathless moment as they lifted their gazes and their eyes met.

"Cindy…"

"Hey, what the…?" Libby nearly crashed into the frozen couple. "Guys, move! Hello? Earth ta Cindy! Anyone there?"

Cindy and Jimmy stayed right where they were.

"Listen," breathed Libby impatiently, "I know you guys are havin' a 'moment' here, but can we get on with it?"

With these words, Jimmy and Cindy finally snapped out of it.

"W-what?" he stammered. "We're not having a moment! It's just that I noticed…err…a blemish on Cindy's face!"

"What?" she spat, backing up a step. "Ugh, you conceited jerk! I wouldn't be talking if I were you. Your whole head is a blemish!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah?"

"YEAH!"

"NAH NAH NAH!"

"You see, Libby?" she cried, whirling around. "I _told_ you he was a jerk! And we were NOT having a 'moment'. Got it?"

Cindy and Jimmy both looked to Libby for confirmation.

Libby sighed. "You know what? Fine. You weren't havin' a moment. You hate each other and always will. Can we go now?"

"That's right!" shouted Jimmy, turning his back to Cindy.

"And don't you ever forget it!" she added.

The two of them stormed off, and Libby shook her head.

"Oh, Sheen," she murmured, "it's so frustratin', seein' 'em rip each other apart like that. You know what I'm sayin'?"

"Huh?" said Sheen, looking up from the scab he had been picking. "What?"

"Oh, never mind. Let's go."

Fortunately for the group, Cindy and Jimmy's sulking session was cut short. Shading his eyes, Carl pointed ahead.

"Um, Jim…I think I see something over there."

Sheen swept his hand to his forehead and swooned. "Oh God, the mirages are closing in! Don't trust your eyes Carl! They will betray you!"

"Stop bein' so dramatic, Sheen. I see it too." Libby pointed to a group of large pink and purple boulders ahead of them. "There's somethin' movin' in there. I…I think it's human, but I can't tell."

Sheen perked up. "Is it a girl? I hope she has three eyes!"

"Sheen, get a life."

"I already have a life! In fact, I have three lives. They're pretty cheap on eBay."

Libby and Cindy smacked their foreheads in unison, and Jimmy gestured at the circle of boulders.

"Guys, keep it down. We should be quiet and tactful about this. We don't want to frighten the life form. So let's just…"

The gang practically jumped out of their skin a second later when a bolt of laser fire crackled past them. Carl threw his hands in the air.

"AHHHH! We're under attack!"

Sheen flung himself away from the others. "Every boy, girl, and irresistibly attractive Mexican man for themselves!"

"No, stop!" shouted Jimmy, arms outstretched. "Everyone stay together until we identify the source of the shots! Now I can triangulate their trajectory if…"

"Hey!" interrupted Cindy. "Where'd the alien go?"

Another blast ricocheted past them, and the kids ducked behind a craggy rock.

Libby glanced over her shoulder in the direction of their mysterious enemy. "Whoever this person is, they sure mean business."

"We can't just sit here," said Cindy. "We should go out face them head on."

Jimmy nodded. "I agree. OK, on the count of three, we'll make a break for those big boulders to the left. Goddard, set your laser to stun, boy."

"Bark, grr, bark!"

He took a deep breath.

"Ready? Go!"

* * *

Hey, if eBay can sell toast in the shape of the virgin Mary, they can sell lives too. ;)

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	7. Girl Behind the Gun

Thanks for all the responses so far! I've enjoyed reading your comments.

_To view the illustration, go here (take out the spaces, substitute the dot and com, and copy+paste it into a new browser tab):_ www .idreamofjimmy (dotcom)/Fanart/MaradesertApril .jpg

* * *

**Chapter 7: Girl Behind the Gun**

The kids darted out from behind their shelter and sprinted toward the relative safety of a nearby rock pile. Laserfire rained down on all sides, and they slalomed now and again to avoid the blasts. Just as the kids were about to complete the final leg of their dash, their assailant sprang out of nowhere with a high-pitched war cry. Jimmy, Cindy, Carl, Sheen, and Libby careened to a stop, only to find themselves staring down the barrel of a blaster weapon. Behind it they caught a glimpse of green skin, a flash of purple eyes, and the glint of fangs.

Jimmy gaped in astonishment. "APRIL?"

The girl dropped the weapon and staggered back, extending her arms as if to ward them off.

"Jimmy? Jimmy Neutron? It is impossible. This cannot be happening…"

The kids found themselves looking at April the Gorlock, only much taller and somewhat shapelier than the last time that they met. She wore blue and purple battle armor, complete with spiked shoulder pads and horned helmet.

"What?" exclaimed Cindy, staring disbelievingly at the woman before her. "April the Gorlock? How on earth did you get here?"

April was barely able to speak. "Cindy…you're…so YOUNG. So young. All of you. You're not really you…It cannot…I must be hallucinating." She shook her head violently. "Wake up: they are not real. They are NOT real."

"I would say the same thing," said Jimmy, reaching out to lay a hand on her shoulder, "except that we can't all be having the same hallucination."

"Do not touch me!" cried April, shrinking away from his hand.

"Sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Do not ever touch me again!"

Jimmy looked down, crushed. "I'm sorry…"

April's eyes cleared, and she took a deep breath to compose herself. "Apologies," she said, relaxing. "I did not mean that. The shadows of the past do not so easily dissolve, that is all. But forgive me, I have gotten ahead of my self. Allow me to back up: where did you come from? How did you get here?"

"Need you ask?" retorted Cindy. "Neutron screwed up, as usual. Could there be any other reason?"

Jimmy scowled at her. "For your information, we got pulled from our own universe after a teleportation accident. We ended up on this planet, and we've been wandering around ever since. It's funny – at first I thought the two universes would have nothing in common, but now I see that I was wrong. We clearly know each other in both universes, so they can't be _that_ different. The only variation seems to be the time difference."

"I would not say that," said April, eyeing him warily. "If you are who I truly think you are, then our worlds are more different than you could imagine."

"What do ya mean?" frowned Libby. "You know us, don't ya?"

"I KNEW you, yes. But that was years ago. Things have changed so much since then."

"In what way?" asked Jimmy.

"I am not sure if I should tell you," she replied, still watching him from the corner of her eye. "I have to first make sure that you can be trusted. But in the meantime, there is someone you should meet." April flipped open a panel on her sleeve and spoke into it. "Aurora, you had better get down here. You are not going to believe who I just met."

A female voice answered irritably. "This had better be good, April. I was in the middle of running a piloting simulation."

"Trust me, it will knock your shoes off."

The voice on the other end sounded both amused and irritated. "April, the expression is 'knock your socks off.'"

"Whatever. Just get down here." April flipped the panel closed.

The sky overhead began to hum, and a large gray ship materialized out of thin air. It hovered for a moment, then slowly descended and alighted on the ground, sending up a cloud of yellow dust in its wake. Carl hacked loudly as it billowed over him, but the other kids scarcely noticed.

"Get a load of _that_, Nerdtron!" shouted Cindy. "Now there's a ship that leaves your junky tin rocket in the dust!"

April gave Cindy a faint smile, then her expression saddened and she shook her head.

"You know what this reminds me of?" asked Sheen, shirt ruffling in the gale.

Libby raised an eyebrow. "Lemme guess: Ultralord."

"Actually, I was gonna say my cousin Floyd's RV, but now that you mention it, this does remind me of Ultralord! Wow Libs, you're beautiful AND smart!"

The dust settled, and a panel slid open on the fuselage of the ship. A mechanized ramp dropped to the ground, and a young woman appeared in the doorway. She walked down the ramp with a swing in her step, and the kids stared on in fascination. The woman wore a silver mask over her face. It gleamed in the sunlight, reflecting her surroundings like a mirror. Her suit was distinctly alien, with a light blue, metallic surface webbed with silvery tubing. She carried two weapons in holsters around her hips, and her long blonde hair was fastened in a high ponytail.

"Well April, what is so important that you dragged me all the way…"

She froze in her tracks. The wind caught her hair and blew it in a wild arc around her face, but her expression was shielded from the children by her silver mask.

When she spoke, her voice was uneven. "Is…Is this some kind of a joke? Because so help me, if it is…"

April shook her head. "I assure you, this is no joke. You are truly seeing Jimmy, Cindy, Sheen, Carl, and Libby as you saw them ten years ago. These children have come from an alternate universe…a universe untouched by all the calamities we have witnessed."

"An alternate universe?" she repeated. "You mean…"

"Exactly," she replied, in a tone that made the kids shoot her an uneasy glance. "They are completely lost and alone. And best of all, HE does not know about them."

The woman remained silent for a moment, then spoke in a whisper. "Do you know what this means, April? If they help us, we could turn the tide of war."

"I know, but we must keep in mind that 'if' is the key word here…I am not sure if we can trust them, Aurora. It might be another trick, like the holograms or clones."

"All right," said Jimmy, stepping between them. "I've had enough of this cryptic talk. What are you two talking about? Calamities? War? Holograms and clones? And you, girl in the silver mask! Who are you anyway? Show us your face!"

The girl surprised them all by laughing. "Neutron, you always were so domineering. But for old time's sake, I'll humor you."

She took off the mask and let it drop to her feet. A second later, the kids' eyes nearly bugged out of their heads.

* * *

Oh yay, cliffhanger! I mean...Oh no! Cliffhanger!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S.  
_


	8. Mirror, Mirror

Time for the next chapter! Yay!

_To view the chapter illustration, go here (remove the spaces and substitute the dot and com_)_:_ acacia thorn . dev iant art(dotcom)/art/Mirror-Mirror-45464030

* * *

**Chapter 8: Mirror, Mirror**

"CINDY!" gasped Libby. "It's…YOU!"

Cindy stood motionless before a mirror image of herself. Her reflection gazed down at her, and a crafty smile twisted her lips.

"Surprised to see me?"

Cindy raised a trembling finger to point at her. "You're…you're ME."

"No way..." breathed Jimmy. "Cindy? Cindy, is that really you?"

The woman tapped her lower lip thoughtfully. "Wow, I haven't been called by that name in a while. But yes, it's me. Only my name isn't Cindy anymore. It's Aurora."

"Aurora…" repeated Cindy, still dazed. "That's my middle name…"

"No kidding. Where'd you think I got it from?"

Sheen prodded Jimmy in the ribs. "Did you get a load of this chick? I mean..._dang!"_ Jimmy glared, and Sheen turned to Cindy with a grin and a finger-wiggle. "Hey Cindy, I had no idea you'd turn into a space hottie. Wanna hang out some time?"

"Can you try to not be a loser for like, five seconds?" Cindy swatted his hand away, before dropping her gaze uneasily. "Besides, she's not really me…"

"Au contraire," returned the other, brushing aside a strand of hair carelessly. "I AM you…well, in a manner of speaking. I'm ten years older and apparently also from a different universe. Speaking of which, I'm terribly curious as to how you all got here. Let me guess - did another one of Neutron's experiments go awry?"

She fixed her eyes on him and gave a dangerous smile. His mouth dropped open a bit, and for a moment he seemed utterly exposed, stripped of all defenses as her venom green eyes bored into his.

"Hah. I figured as much."

Her smile deepened, and from the look on her face, it looked like she was getting ready to eat him alive. Fortunately for Jimmy, something else drew Aurora's attention before she could stare him into a stupor – Carl's knees buckled, and he collapsed into a ball on the desert ground.

"Aurora," gasped April, "this is awful! These kids are dehydrated and probably half dead from heat stroke and here we are, standing around in the middle of the desert when we have a temperature-regulated ship right over there."

"Let's get a move on, then," she said, turning heel and starting out toward the ship. "I told you I wanted to get off this rock hours ago."

April secured her weapon in a holster around her waist, then stooped down, grabbed Carl, and effortlessly slung him over her shoulder. Jimmy, Sheen, Cindy, and Libby followed close behind the two women as they proceeded toward the ship.

"Girl," Libby whispered, "the future you is amazin'! Did you check out her duds? Talk about space age!"

"_Tell_ me about it. And did you see the way she stared Neutron down like that? I've never seen him so petrified in his life." They snickered quietly, then Cindy continued. "I can't help wondering, though. I mean, how on earth did she wind up here, with April the Gorlock of all people? And what the heck were they talking about earlier? It sounded pretty heavy. I mean, if there is a war or something going on, I would think that we'd be the last people who'd be able to help."

Libby paused. "Well, not us, maybe. But Jimmy could probably help."

"Then why'd they get so riled up when they saw him? I mean, didn't you see the way April practically flipped out when he touched her?"

"Ya, that was pretty weird."

"Besides," said Cindy, "if they really wanted Jimmy's help, why didn't they just ask the Jimmy in this universe?"

The girls' conversation was cut short when they arrived at the ship. Aurora walked up the rampway and waited impatiently by the door. A computerized voice spoke.

"Identify yourself."

"It's me, you stupid piece of machinery!"

"Identity confirmed. Welcome back, Aurora."

The doors slid open, and she breezed past them. April followed her, and the kids cautiously toddled in behind. They entered a dark corridor, and there was a jolt as the ship presumably lifted off the ground and flew upward.

Aurora snapped her fingers. "Lights!"

Like dominoes, a chain of orange lights tumbled down the corridor and illuminated a shining blue door. April rested a still unconscious Carl on the floor, and then she and Aurora walked together to the door and placed their hands on the two panels on either side of it. Sheen crammed his way between them.

"Wow, now that's my kind of paint job!"

"Don't touch, stupid!" snapped Aurora. "If you do..."

With an enormous grin plastered on his face, Sheen laid a single finger on the surface. There was a crackle of electricity and a flash of light, and Sheen was sent rocketing backwards. He slammed into Libby, and they both flew backward and rolled across the floor until they came to a stop at the end of the corridor. Libby coughed, trying to force air back into her lungs, before frantically turning to Sheen. All the while, Goddard was barking like crazy.

"Sheen! Sheen!" she said, shaking him. "Are you OK? Speak to me!"

He sat up, eyes wide, still crackling with energy. _"Man_ that was cool! Let's do it again!"

Libby threw up her hands. "Ugh! You idiot!"

"Do you have a death wish?" came Aurora's voice from across the corridor. "That shock could have killed you!"

Libby helped him to his feet, and they wobbled back toward the others.

"Aurora warned you not to touch the door," said April sternly as the boy shook the last remnants of electricity from his hair. "You should have listened."

"Oh please," huffed Cindy. "It's not his fault…for once. When you have a booby-trapped door on your ship, someone's bound to get zapped sooner or later."

April shrugged. "That is the idea. We cannot have just anyone coming in and out of here. Security is our number one concern."

"Why?" asked Jimmy.

Aurora whirled around. "To keep out people like YOU, Ok!" Her voice cracked, and for a moment her eyes flickered with an emotion he could not identify. As rapidly as the outburst had begun, Aurora composed herself, and her expression relaxed. She took a deep breath. "Now let's get on with this. April? Ready?"

"On your signal."

The women placed their hands on the panels again, then spoke in unison: "Open".

There was a hiss of air, and the doors slid apart.

"That's it? I was at least expecting an 'open sesame' or something. I mean, come on! Anyone can say "open". Some high-tech security system."

"Think before you speak, Sheen," said April with a growl. "The door is voice sensitive...it opens to the combined sound of our voices."

Aurora looked over her shoulder at him. "You really know how to rub people the wrong way, don't you? I suggest you keep your mouth shut, because April and I aren't exactly the most patient people you'll ever meet. Now zip it and follow me."

April re-shouldered Carl, and the women entered into a dark, narrow passageway beyond the door. Jimmy, Cindy, Libby, and Sheen trailed close behind, rendered mute by the strangeness of the whole situation and the commanding presence of these two unpredictable women. Ahead, the passage branched into two separate hallways, the one on the left seemingly identical to the one on the right.

Aurora gestured airily. "April, take fatty to the sick bay while I show the rest to the cockpit."

"Don't you think it would be wiser to show the children to the kitchen? They look dangerously dehydrated, and they are probably half starved."

"Fine, April. I'll show them to the cockpit, THEN to the kitchen. Now go!"

April turned to the kids. "Jimmy, would it be all right if Goddard came with Carl and me? I think your friend would be less frightened if he woke up to a familiar face."

"Sure...I guess."

April headed off to the right with Goddard and Carl, and Aurora motioned for the others to follow her down the left passage. After a short walk, they came to another door, and this one automatically slid open as they approached.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the _Desperado_…" she motioned for them to go ahead.

One by one they entered. What awaited them inside was more like a luxury apartment than a cockpit. Two padded chairs rested behind the largest set of control consoles, which glittered with an assortment of multicolor buttons. Past the consoles, a window-like portal arched up from the floor and tapered to a bend at the summit of the room. Beyond its glassy curves lay the star-studded carpet of space.

Sheen smiled broadly as he took in his surroundings. "I gotta say, this really tops the ratings. In fact, this might just be the third coolest thing I've ever seen, right after that 47-hour-long Ultralord marathon I watched, and the time I spied on Libby in the bathroom!"

"You did WHAT? So help me, Sheen, if you're bein' serious, I'm gonna – "

"I was kidding! I was kidding!"

"Nuh-uh, you're not gettin' off the hook that easy. Ah...come on...don't cower! Get over here!"

Cindy, Jimmy, and Aurora, determined to ignore their antics, began talking quietly by the entrance.

"So...we're in space already?"

"Yes," said Aurora. "We're currently in orbit around the planet below. Hopefully we'll leave soon…that is, assuming April gets her butt in gear. I wanted to leave two hours ago ago, but she insisted that she needed to adjust the sights on her new weapon, blah blah blah."

"It's a good thing she insisted," began Jimmy, "or you never would've found us."

Cindy gazed up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "It's so weird to think about...in this whole vast universe, we were on the exact same planet at the exact same time. It seems almost impossible."

"It IS impossible," said Aurora.

Jimmy nodded. "She's right. Statistically, the chances of our meeting were so unlikely that it doesn't even make any sense."

Libby stopped berating Sheen long enough to speak. "Maybe it's fate?"

"Fate?" scowled Aurora. "Puh-leeze. There's no such thing. A cosmic joke, maybe, but not fate."

Jimmy cut in. "Or quantum entanglement...it can happen, you know. According to the multiverse theory, there are an infinite number of universes stemming from each choice a person makes in his or her lifetime. Our universes are exactly the same…but somewhere along the line, ONE of us made a choice that changed things forever. If we can figure out what that choice was, what that one crucial event was, then we'll be one step closer to understanding all of this."

"I already know what that choice was, Neutron." Jimmy met her gaze and caught a flash of regret in Aurora's expression.

"You know?" said Libby. "Then what was it?"

When Aurora failed to reply, Cindy snapped her fingers at her future self. "Hello, she asked you a question! Aren't you going to answer?"

"Hey, who's hungry? What do you say we head to the kitchen and get some food, huh?"

Cindy scowled. "Don't change the subject!"

"Listen," said Jimmy, "before we go any further with this, you need to give us some answers. If you just ignore our questions, we're not going to help you with whatever it is that you need help with. Now, what are you two involved in? What's all this talk about war and calamities?"

"And how did you end up sharing a ship with April?" added Cindy. "Last time I checked, she and I weren't exactly buddy-buddy. And more importantly, why are you out testing weapons on some desert planet? Shouldn't you, like...be in college or something?"

"Where are the rest of our alternate future selves?"

Libby jumped in. "And why did April freak out at Jimmy earlier?"

"And do you have any mongo space guns? I really wanna blast some asteroids!" added Sheen for good measure.

"All right! All right!" said Aurora, raising her palms to pacify them. "Back off, people! I know you guys must be practically dying from confusion, but you'll just have to hold on a little longer. I promise, I'll answer all of your questions very soon. I want to wait for Carl and April to get back from the sick bay before I start my explanations. Now, in the meantime, what do you say we get you something to eat and drink? I don't want anyone else fainting, thank you very much."

Cindy tapped her foot impatiently. "Whatever we do, can we speed things up a bit? I'm gonna go nuts if I don't get some questions answered pretty soon."

"Deal with it," said Aurora coldly. "The greatest questions in my life have never been answered, but somehow, I've managed to keep going."

Libby threw Cindy a look, and Jimmy scrutinized Aurora's expression, trying to get a read on her.

Aurora turned heel and walked to the door. "Let's go."

* * *

Thank you for reading! Chapter 9 will come…eventually ;-)

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. If you'd like to reach her, her email address is ivory23 at idreamofjimmy . com._


	9. A Lesson in Gorlock Table Manners

Hope this chapter is up to par. I think I might cut one of the scenes later.

Chapter illustration (remove the spaces and substitute the dot and com): suisei usagi . dev ian tart(dotcom)/art/April-Without-Envy-167482349

* * *

**Chapter 9: A Lesson in Gorlock Table Manners**

Aurora led her guests out of the cockpit and down another hall. Sheen took the opportunity to run ahead and ask Aurora annoying questions about whether or not she had met Ultralord in her travels, and whether or not he had a freckle on his left elbow like the kids online had told him. Aurora did her best to ignore him, breezing ahead as Jimmy fell into step alongside Cindy and Libby.

"I can't figure her out, Cindy," he whispered, casting Aurora a furtive glance.

"Huh?"

"Your alternate self. She's like you...but something's off. I can't make sense of her."

"Well, she _is_ ten years older than me," replied Cindy hastily. "People change, Neutron. Besides, why do you have to make sense of her? Life's not all about analyzing people, you know. She's...complicated."

Libby toyed with a braided lock uneasily. "True as that may be, I gotta go with Jimmy on this one. Somethin's weird here, big-time. I can feel it."

"Well, glad to see you're such an optimist, Libby," drawled Cindy.

"It's not a matter of optimism, it's a matter of followin' my gut. An' my gut says, somethin's up with Aurora."

"Would you stop ragging on her? I mean, I think she's cool!"

"She's cool all right, but coolness doesn't answer our questions. Just trust me on this, OK? I'm your best friend; I know what I'm talkin' about."

"Oh yeah? If you're my best friend, then why is my future self teamed up with April, hmm? Where are YOU, Libby?"

"That's exactly what has me worried. Where is everyone? Where are Jimmy, Sheen, Carl, and me? You're not even here Cindy…Aurora isn't YOU. You're gone…you've changed…and what happened to all your friends?"

"Oh please!" said Cindy. "Did you really expect me to hang around with you guys forever?"

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Cin. I guess if you don't want me around, then I'll go."

Jimmy shot Cindy a look that could kill. "You're such a clueless idiot, Vortex. We were only trying to help."

Libby and Jimmy picked up their paces, leaving Cindy behind. She stared at their receding figures in bewilderment.

"What? What did I DO? Guys! Hello!"

Luckily for Cindy, the disagreement couldn't escalate into a full-blown silent treatment, because after a few more steps they reached their destination.

"All right!" said Sheen, pushing ahead of Aurora. "I'm starved! Bring on the grub!"

The door slid to one side automatically, and he jumped into the room. It only took a few seconds for his elation to fizzle out, and he narrowed his eyes at Aurora. "Hey, what are you trying to pull? This doesn't look like a kitchen! Where's the microwave and the fridge? What about the chairs for crying out loud? And hot pockets? I want some HOT POCKETS!"

The rest of the kids filtered into the room, which was brightly lit and spotlessly clean. The walls were covered in chrome cupboards and panels, and in the center of the room sat a large, rectangular slab of metal. The floor was checkered black and white, and the scent of cleaner permeated the air.

"What's up with this décor?" asked Libby. "Hospital meets 1950s diner?"

"Certainly smells like a hospital," agreed Cindy, sniffing the air. "What is that? Ammonia?"

Aurora shrugged. "I don't smell anything."

"Well I do!" proclaimed Sheen, stamping his foot. "I expected the scent of a wholesome, home cooked meal! Or at least the stank of some greasy nachos! What kind of future is this?"

"Relax," said Aurora. "I'll get some food whipped up in a second. I'll fire up the food synthesizer and…"

Jimmy looked up in disbelief. "Food synthesizer? You have a working food synthesizer?"

"Doesn't everyone? Like I was saying, you guys can help yourself to some chairs. They're in the top cupboard on the right."

Cindy was skeptical. "Chairs, in a cupboard?"

"Uh-huh."

Aurora walked over to a little alcove in the right wall and began pushing buttons. Jimmy stood on his tiptoes to try to open the cupboard, but found himself unable to reach it.

"What's the matter, Neutron?" mocked Cindy. "Need a little help?"

"Not from YOU," Jimmy glowered back at her.

Aurora was quick to whip around. "Will you two get over yourselves and just get the stupid chairs? Jeez, you're annoying!"

Libby approached the blonde. "Here Cindy, I'll give ya a boost. 'Cause I'm your best friend, and that's what best friends _do_."

Cindy hung her head. "Look, I'm sorry, OK? I didn't mean what I said. Could you just let it drop, and help me up?"

Libby hoisted her friend onto her back. Cindy's rifle through the cabinet produced a stack of metallic disks, which she inspected before jumping back down.

Sheen leaned in to peer at them. "I thought we wanted chairs, not Frisbees."

Aurora's voice sounded exasperated. "They're not Frisbees. Toss them up in the air and see."

"You mean like a Frisbee?"

"Will you just do it!"

Cindy chucked the lot into the air, and the kids followed the disks as they plummeted towards the floor. An instant before impact, the edges began to glow, and they bounced back up and hovered around waist height.

Libby's eyes grew wide. "Wow! Floatin' chairs!"

Sheen climbed onto one. "Hey, how cool is this? Butt Frisbees! Check it out babes! I'm a bird, I'm a plane, I'm…really getting higher! Waaahhh!" His chair spiraled upward, and he cracked his head against the ceiling. "Ouch! Jeez! Hey…hey! I can control how high it goes by how hard I push my butt down! Ha ha!"

He began bouncing up and down, then swirled round and round until dizziness got the best of him.

Libby clapped her hands once in delight, then hopped up as well. Sheen was swooning in a blur of vertigo, and Libby floated over to him.

"Sheen? How many fingers am I holdin' up?"

Sheen squinted. "Uh…Five? Eight? Pah, who cares! Let's dance, baby!" Grabbing her by the hands, he spun her round and round in the air.

"Wow oh no...whoa…wow wa ha ha ha ha! Cind, you gotta try this girl!"

Cindy jumped onto hers, and Jimmy followed her example. They rose upward into the air in unison.

"Incredible!" said Jimmy, running his hands over the smooth surface of the chair. "The aerodynamics on these are top notch, and they're just furniture!"

Cindy leaped to her feet, then cast him a competitive glance. "I bet you can't balance on yours, Neutron!"

"Oh yeah? Watch me!" He sprang up with a defiant smile. "I bet I can go faster than you too. I'll race you…first person to do twelve laps around the kitchen wins!"

"You're on!"

"Guys, don't do anything stupid..."

Cindy blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "What are you talking about Libs? I'm just gonna teach this obnoxious big-head an important life lesson, that's all. That is, if he's still conscious by the end of the race."

"Let's just hope you're lucid enough to grovel when _I_ win."

Sheen rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "All right, let's get crack-a-lackin'! On your marks…"

Libby looked around worriedly. "Guys…"

"Get set…"

"Careful!"

"Aaaaand...SNOW! Ha, almost tricked you didn't I? GO!"

They took off in a blur, whizzing along the walls at breakneck speed. They rounded the first corner, Cindy slightly in the lead. Sheen and Libby cheered them on as they completed the first lap, then the second, then the third. They accelerated with each passing round, until the spectators had a hard time keeping up with them.

"Take it easy, you two!" shouted Libby. "You're gonna get hurt!"

Cindy and Jimmy were focusing with everything they had to keep from crashing. Knees bent, they whizzed through the air, hair whipping and clothes rustling. Aurora returned from an adjoining room, carrying a stack of boxes.

She looked up at them. "What the…what the heck are you doing? The chairs aren't meant to handle that kind of abuse! Get down from there!"

Jimmy was adamant. "Not a chance Aurora! I'm beating Cindy at her own game!"

"Ha, I'd like to see you try!"

They neared the final lap of their race, and Jimmy pulled ahead into the lead. Cindy, desperate not to lose, gritted her teeth and whacked her chair against his. The impact sent them both careening into the wall, and within seconds they lost control and tumbled through the air, landing with a crash in the hallway outside.

"Guys!" cried Libby, darting out into the hall. "Are you OK?"

Jimmy jumped up. "Way to go, Vortex! That little stunt could have gotten us seriously injured!"

"Way to keep your balance, klutz! It wasn't my fault you lost control!"

"Klutz?" he shouted. "You're the one that plowed into me! You just couldn't bear to lose, could you?"

Aurora appeared in the hallway. "Will you two get a grip? You've only been on my ship for fifteen minutes, and already you're at each other's throats. Quit the fighting, or you two can go for a solo ride in one of the escape pods. Got it?"

The kids were silenced, and Cindy and Jimmy grouchily returned to the kitchen. The gloomy expressions vanished from their faces when they saw the stack of pizza boxes and six-pack of Purple Flurp on the table.

"You...you made pizza?" asked Libby, incredulous. "And Purple Flurp? How did you do that?"

Aurora was decidedly smug. "The food synthesizer is pretty handy, isn't it?"

"Awesome!" said Sheen, throwing his hands into the air. "That food syntha...synthosaurus...whatever...is every candy addict's dream! If I had one of those, I could make all the anchovy candy cane Jell-o pie I wanted, and nobody would look at me weird!"

On cue, they all threw him a weird look.

"What! It's _good_!"

They didn't bother to dignify this with a response, and instead pulled up their chairs and began helping themselves to the meal.

"Mmm-mmm!" approved Libby. "Pizza never tasted so good!"

Footsteps approached a moment later, and April, Goddard, and Carl appeared in the doorway.

Jimmy almost jumped out of his chair. "Carl! You're OK!"

Sheen, whose mouth was stuffed to the brim, offered a less articulate greeting. "Caaaawl, Mmmpfhhh ump lockmmph stumphff!"

"Jimmy! Sheen! I missed you guys!"

"Rrr, bark bark!"

"We were wondering when you'd wake up," said Jimmy. "It seems you have a pretty low threshold for heat stroke. How do you feel?"

"I feel really good. Thanks to April." He glanced over his shoulder at her, smiling childishly. "She's a REAL good nurse."

"C'mon over Carl!" said Sheen. "We've got pizza!"

Carl perked up. "Pizza!" He cleared the room in one bounding leap, grabbed a slice in both hands, and began to alternate biting each one. He gulped down a can of soda and punctuated the last swig with a giant burp, then daintily dabbed at the corners of his mouth with a napkin. "'Scuse me."

April sat down. "Oh! You made Earth food again? Aurora, I thought it was my turn to cook!"

"You can cook tomorrow, April. I didn't want to freak out the kids by making them Gorlock food. They've already seen enough scary things for one day."

April wrinkled her nose in disgust at the pizza. "But Aurora…"

"Don't flip out. I made you something to eat too."

She opened a box at the far end of the table and handed April a plate of wriggling, gelatinous THINGS that squirmed and crawled and twitched about. The scaly, greenish purple mass made a sort of squelching sound as its various parts pulsated and quivered on the plate's surface. April beat it into submission with her fist, and then began shoveling the stuff into her mouth with one clawed hand. The kids all watched in revulsion.

"What is THAT?" asked Cindy, curling her lip.

"_Teg-nog-Shii len_," replied April, licking her fingers. "A common dish on my homeworld. Would you like to try some?"

They all threw their hands forward simultaneously. "NO!"

April smacked the food some more, then gobbled the rest up. She burped loudly, pushed the plate away, then put her feet up on the table and started picking her teeth. The kids stared at her, eyes bulging.

Aurora looked over at them apologetically. "You'll have to forgive April, everyone. Gorlock cuisine and table manners are...um…adventurous. It's actually considered an insult in Gorlock culture if you don't burp after a meal and put your feet on the table."

"I see…" mumbled Jimmy.

Carl shifted uneasily. "I don't know...my dad says we shouldn't ever put our feet on the table. It could transfer foot and toenail fungus into our food."

"Don't be silly Carl!" smiled Sheen. "My dad says that the best way to build up a strong immune system is through exposure. Like this!" He stuck his foot in his mouth.

"Ewww!" shouted Libby. "I'm eatin' here!"

Cindy put down her piece of pizza. "Aurora, how do you know that it's an insult in Gorlock culture to do these things? Have you ever been to Planet Gorlock?"

"Been there? I've lived there for the past ten years!"

"You what?" stammered Jimmy, nearly dropping his food. "How? Why?" When she avoided responding by taking another drink of soda, his look of surprise faded into a an angry frown. "All right, this is getting out of control. It's high time you answered a few questions. I want an explanation for all of this! Now!"

"All right, all right, you win," sighed Aurora. "I'll tell you everything. But before I begin, I just have to make sure of one thing. I have a question for Libby."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Libby, how old are you now? And how long ago was your last birthday?"

She thought for a moment. "I just turned 12 on December 11th. It was a couple a months ago. Why?"

"A couple of months? And everything's still the same?"

"More or less."

"I was right, then. OK everyone, I'm going to tell you a story, and through it I hope I'll answer most of your questions."

"Oh goodie, I love stories!"

Aurora glared at Carl. "Hopefully, I'll be able to get through it without too many interruptions. This story spans the length of ten years and will be very disturbing for some of you. It is the story of me, and how I came to be what I am now."

* * *

Oh no, cliffhanger! Not again!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S.  
_


	10. Evolution of a Tragedy

_Chapter Illustration_: (to view it, remove the spaces, substitute the dot and com, and copy+paste it in a new browser window): _acacia thorn . dev iant art(dotcom)/art/Behind-the-Mask-34823460_

* * *

**Chapter 10: Evolution of a Tragedy**

Aurora shifted in her chair. "Before I go back to the beginning, I think it would be best to explain what's going on now. You may have guessed that a lot has changed in the past ten years, and if so you've hit the nail on the head. Things in this reality are going downhill fast. April and I are caught in the middle of a vast conflict…a conflict that will ultimately decide the fate of millions of worlds."

"Millions of worlds?" scoffed Cindy, leaning forward. "Isn't that a bit melodramatic?"

April met her gaze levelly. "It is not. Aurora speaks the truth. We face a terrible foe...a man who has destroyed whole solar systems and annihilated entire cultures in his quest for power. He is a remorseless killer and a sadist, and he lords his authority over your Milky Way galaxy and a number of neighboring galaxies, including mine. The chaos wrought by his conquests has in turn allowed multitudes of opportunistic lowlifes and petty warlords to come out of the woodwork – instability and exploitation are rampant. The Galactic Police are completely overwhelmed and on the verge of becoming defunct. Luckily, Planet Gorlock has thus far been able to resist any attack launched against it. The Gorlock army, as well as underworld agents and resistance fighters from hundreds of other worlds, have banded together to try and stop him."

"April and I are part of that network of revolutionaries," continued Aurora, a touch of bravado echoing in her voice. "So far, we haven't been able to take out this loser, but we won't give up. We will _never_ give up." Her voice slowed as she came to the end of the sentence. Aurora's arm trembled almost imperceptibly as she leaned forward and picked up an unopened soda can. She raised her gaze, and the look in her eyes was nothing short of murderous. "I will destroy him for what he's done to everyone…for what he's done to me. Someday I'll have my chance, and when I do, I won't hold _anything_ back."

_SNAP! _The soda can burst, and purple liquid fizzed down her arm, staining her clothing and spreading into a dark pool on the table. Little streams grew out of the purple reservoir, snaking their way to the corners of the table, where they coagulated and rained to the ground like drops of blood. She closed her eyes and let the can clatter to the floor. Everyone was silent for a moment, then Jimmy spoke.

"I think I understand…so, you want our help defeating this guy? Sounds doable. I can think of at least five or six inventions off the top of my head that'd probably beat whatever he throws out at us. I could easily recreate them given the proper chemicals…"

"If it were as easy as that," laughed Aurora contemptuously, "do you think we'd be in this mess? Please! What do you take me for? Unfortunately, the situation is a little more complicated. He is extremely dangerous."

Cindy threw up a careless hand. "Pfft! He can't be that strong. Where'd this loser come from, anyway? And how did he manage to single-handedly defeat _everyone_? You guys are pretty pathetic if you all lost to one man!"

Aurora smiled. "In order to understand how screwed up things truly are, we have to go back...back ten years, to December 11th…to Libby's birthday party, when all of this really began."

"My birthday? Uh...that's come 'n gone, and we don't have no evil dictators runnin' around."

"Not in your universe you don't. But in ours, something happened on that day that changed our lives forever." Aurora gave a long sigh, then glanced lingeringly at Libby. A sentimental glow came into her eyes, and for a moment she seemed lost in the past. "You and I used to have so much fun, Libby. I remember it so clearly...our trips to the Candy Bar, our sleepovers, our crazy adventures with Jimmy, Sheen, and Carl. The way you used to tell me to get over my pride issues and just talk to Jimmy…and then the way you'd turn right back around and pretend you weren't crushing on Sheen."

Cindy, Jimmy, Sheen, and Libby all took turns blushing at these remarks.

"And most of all," she continued, "I remember your 12th birthday party. You hired Gray Star to play, and BOY were you excited. Everyone was invited. It was gonna be the party of the year. Ha ha, remember how all the presents looked the same because everyone took that same wrapping course at the Learning Hut…and I alphabetized them for you?"

Cindy and Libby smiled in unison. "Ya…"

"Then I'm sure you also remember what happened next. Just before the party started, Neutron, Sheen, and Carl stopped by and dropped off their presents, but they seemed all anxious to leave again. I think it was something to do with some lame new invention of Neutron's. The "chronoarch" or something. But then that STUPID Betty Quinlan showed up, and that changed their plans quicker than I could blink."

Libby looked up in surprise. "What? Betty Quinlan didn't come to my party!"

"Ya," sneered Cindy. "I wouldn't have let her in."

"Well, she came to the party in our universe," said Aurora. "And it irritated the heck out of me, I might add. I couldn't get a word in edgewise…Jimmy spent the whole time hanging on her every move."

Jimmy looked equally surprised. "What? I did? That never happened with us. We left Libby's and went back to the lab before the party."

"You certainly didn't in my universe. You were such a pathetic tongue-dragger that day, Neutron. And when Gray Star played, you and Betty danced together…in fact, everyone was dancing. Except me." Aurora leaned forward over the table and stared him right in the eye. "Do you know what it's like, to be the only one without somebody? To be all alone when everyone else is having fun? I swear, I could've jumped up on the stage and started spitting nickels and you still wouldn't have given me the time of day!"

"I would have!" interrupted Sheen. "Especially if you were wearing the same outfit that you are now!"

Carl nodded. "I would've noticed too! I love nickels!"

"Nice try you guys, but no. The point is, I wasn't exactly in a good mood by the time Libby started opening her presents. When she unwrapped Jimmy's gift, it turned out to be a white bottle of perfume…or at least, that's what I thought. Jimmy started freaking out when he saw it. He tried to take it from Libby. He said she couldn't use it, that it would ruin everything. He yelled at Carl...said he had grabbed the wrong bottle. That he had given her Megalomanium instead of perfume."

"Megalomanium?" asked Carl. "You mean that stuff that makes you mad with power?"

Aurora nodded. "Exactly. But I didn't know that. I thought Jimmy was just being a jerk to Libby, and I wanted to get back at him. So I grabbed the bottle…"

Jimmy's face grew pale. "Oh no…"

"Pointed it at his face…"

"No…"

"And sprayed it in his eyes."

There was a moment of silence as the kids absorbed the full meaning of her words.

"You sprayed him _in the face_?" gaped Libby. "What were you thinkin'?"

"I wasn't thinking."

"Wait a minute!" shouted Sheen. "Are you telling me Jimmy's the one who huffed the stuff? But I thought Libby was the one who became an evil dictator!"

Jimmy looked like he was going to be sick. "Not in this universe," he said, swallowing audibly. "So…I was the one who was exposed to the Megalomanium? Me?"

"Yes," said Aurora quietly. "And after that, you were never the same again. It didn't happen right away. In fact, life went on for quite a while without changing too much at all. But soon, I started noticing that something was wrong. It was subtle…the way you treated your friends, the way you reacted to the little things. The way you started to seek out power over other people. I thought you were just having a bad week...but then the behavior continued, and soon it escalated."

"What did I do?"

"Your manner went from immature to borderline to violent, all in a matter of weeks. At first it was impressive...your wardrobe changed, you stood up to the bullies, and you stood up to ME. You took charge of everything…and I was so dazzled by the new you that I was blinded from the truth."

"The truth?" he echoed.

"You started making inventions that you had never made before…inventions that could only hurt, not help. And soon it was like you were a totally different person…even Goddard had trouble recognizing you. Your parents thought you were just going through a phase or something, so nobody figured out what was really going on. I think Carl may have suspected that something was wrong with you, but nobody really understood the extent of what would happen next."

A patch of light reflected off the lenses of Carl's glasses. "I knew?"

"You knew that Jimmy had been exposed to the Megalomanium and that it was changing him. But you didn't know what to do. Jimmy was your best friend after all, and you didn't want to upset him. And by the end of May, NONE of us dared to upset him. By then, Jimmy had declared himself supreme high ruler of the entire town of Retroville. Nobody had even bothered to fight back. But it wasn't enough; his greed for power was insatiable. Driven by the Megalomanium, he started a mini-conquest. Town by town, state by state, Jimmy let everyone know what he intended to do. He tried to get us to help him...and for a while, we did. But then Libby and I drew the line. He got so angry at us…he got so angry at anyone who refused to obey him." She paused, then took a deep, shaky breath. "He came to my house one day and confronted me. He told me that he was going to make me suffer…suffer so much that I'd wish I had never been born. I'll never forget the look in his eyes that day. It was inhuman."

Jimmy's face paled to a sickly white.

"And he kept his promise," went on Aurora. "He resurrected an old favorite: the nanobots. You remember them, right? How they became so obsessed with human error that they deleted everyone on the planet? Well, he set them loose again. They deleted my parents first, then one by one, everyone I knew. As if that weren't enough, he sent them out after other targets, and it escalated to a terror campaign across the globe. Soon everyone was gone. Several of Jimmy's old enemies managed to escape the onslaught, but I don't think he really cared. By the end, the only people who were left were Carl, Sheen, Libby, and me."

Jimmy reached out, as if to somehow prevent her from saying more. "Please..."

"Before he left, Jimmy came to see me again. I…I remember...it was so windy that day. I was standing in the street, looking up at the abandoned buildings, wondering if there was any difference between myself and the rest of the empty city. He walked up to me, and we stood looking at each other. He stared at me…just stared without saying anything at all. But he didn't need to. He knew he had won. I was broken. He had won."

Aurora's eyebrows knitted together as she surveyed their faces. Tears threatened to spill over Libby's dark lashes, while Sheen drummed his fingers nervously on the tabletop. Cindy couldn't seem to take her gaze off Jimmy, who was looking more nauseous with each passing moment. Aurora took a deep breath, then began again.

"Then, something strange happened. Jimmy couldn't look me in the eye. He started to shake all over, and for a minute it seemed like he was fighting the Megalomanium. He finally looked up at me, and oh God…I've never seen anything like it. He just stared at me...stared with this wordless desperation that I couldn't hope to understand. To this day, I still don't know what, if anything, he was trying to tell me." Aurora bowed her head, and her blonde bangs spilled over her eyes, casting her face in shadow. She kept her eyes downcast as she continued. "Afterwards, he forced Carl, Sheen, and Libby into his rocket. And then he left. He left, just like that. I was completely alone, the sole survivor of earth, a piece of cosmic driftwood. I had nobody left and nowhere to turn."

No one said anything, and the silence was deafening.

"What did you do?" whispered Libby, almost inaudibly.

"I didn't do anything. In the end, it was luck that saved me."

"How so?"

April's voice cut in, and the kids nearly jumped at the sound. "During the time that all this was happening on Earth, I sent a series of message rocks to Jimmy. They were not about anything in particular…I just wanted to keep in touch. However, when he never replied to any of them, I began to get worried. So, I decided to pay Jimmy Neutron a visit."

Aurora shot April half a smile. "You can imagine my surprise when April showed up at my doorstep. I've never been so happy to see anyone in my whole life. It's funny. Our past squabbles seemed so insignificant…almost like they had happened in another lifetime."

"After I found her, Aurora told me everything that had happened. I was horrified, but I realized that immediate action needed to be taken if we were to stop the newly evil Jimmy from destroying anything else. I could not just leave Aurora marooned on a ruined world, so I offered her the chance to fight back…I offered her a one-way ticket to Planet Gorlock."

Aurora shrugged. "I had nothing to lose, so I went with April back to her home world. Pretty soon I learned that the strange and frightening new planet could also be a refuge…a clean slate, and a new beginning. I grew up there, in a sense. The person who I had been on Earth was gone."

"When we were only 13," explained April, "Aurora and I joined the resistance movement, and we have been part of it ever since. In the eight years since then, we have dedicated our lives to the struggle. So many things have happened…"

Aurora broke in. "Ya, ya, they don't need to know all the details. Lord knows I wish I could forget them. All the rest aside, I think you now have a pretty clear picture of what happened, and what's going on at the moment. Do you understand what we're up against now?"

Jimmy nodded slowly. "Yes, and it's far worse than I imagined. I'm still having difficulty processing all this – but your story at least made one thing very clear: we _have_ help you. After all, this is as much our problem as it is yours. This may be another universe, but it's still OUR lives we're talking about."

"So, we're all agreed," said Aurora with an air of finality, before the others could voice opposition to Jimmy's resolution. "I'll give you a briefing about upcoming battle strategies soon. But in the meantime, I think you kids better get some down time. You look like you've all seen the Ghost of Christmas past. April, why don't you show them to the spare rooms while I clean up after dinner?"

The kids left the table and followed April down the corridor and back into the cockpit. They shuffled along as if in slow motion, each trapped with their own thoughts.

"This way, everyone," said April softly.

She led them through another corridor and down a short hall. They came to a door on the right; about five feet down there was another door, nearly identical to the first.

"OK," pointed April, "the first room here is for the girls. The second one that you see there is for the boys. I hope that you all get some rest. You have been through a trying ordeal today."

She turned without another word and disappeared down the hall. The kids listened as her footsteps faded into an echo, and the echo faded into memory.

* * *

Oh! Oh! So many questions, so many things to say! More coming soon...

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S.  
_


	11. Two Hearts, One Mind

Well, what the heck. I guess I'll post another chapter today xD. J/C chapter, about as fluffy as I'm gonna get. :-)

___Chapter Illustration_: (to view it, remove the spaces, substitute the dot and com, and copy+paste it in a new browser window): acacia thorn . dev ian tart(dotcom)/art/Jimmy-X-Cindy-B-L-E-N-D-84222614  


* * *

**Chapter 11: Two Hearts, One Mind**

"Well," said Jimmy, turning to Cindy, "...goodnight I guess."

She avoided his gaze. "Ya. Goodnight."

The girls opened their door and entered. The room was small and square, with ugly gray walls and no decorations. There was a metal-framed bunk bed set up against the left wall, and Libby cast herself onto it with a groan.

"Ugh…I've never been so drained. I think I'm gonna pass out."

Cindy pulled herself up onto the top bunk. "I know what you mean. I feel like someone just unloaded a brick house on my back."

"Uh-huh…"

They sat in silence for a time. Biting her lip, Cindy tapped her fingertips together, then spoke out in a small voice.

"Libby? Do you think something bad will happen to me too, like it did to Aurora?"

Her friend made no reply.

"Libby?"

Libby gave a little snore, and Cindy let out a sigh and leaned her back against the wall. She pulled her knees up to her chest and shivered.

"You're so lucky. You can just go to sleep and forget about it."

Meanwhile, the boys had entered their room. It was a mirror image of the girl's quarters, with the bunk bed set up against the right wall.

"Well, guys," yawned Jimmy. "What do you say we turn in? All things considered, I'm ready for some unconsciousness."

"Bark bark!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Goddard. Sleep mode, boy."

Goddard crawled into the corner and turned a couple of circles before powering down.

"Are you kidding?" Sheen bounced up and down in place. "I'm WIRED. Hey! Oh man, you know what I just realized? I get to go to bed without brushing my teeth! Now, when I wake up in the morning, they'll be all covered in that white fuzzy stuff. How awesome is that?"

"I know that feeling," said Carl. "It's like wooly slippers on your teeth."

Sheen grinned. "I know, isn't it cool? As soon as I get out of the house, I'm never brushing my teeth again!"

"But Sheen," interjected Jimmy, "if you don't brush your teeth, the plaque will eat away at your tooth enamel and gum tissue, ultimately resulting in cavities and gingivitis!"

"I know!" Sheen gazed up at the ceiling dreamily. "It's always been my secret dream to have black teeth pitted with holes. Then I'll look just like that hillbilly girl who used to date my uncle Miguel, or the two-year-old Swiss cheese stuck behind the toaster! There'll be so many holes that when I smile the light will shine through just like a beautiful kaleidoscope! Ha ha!"

"Now that I think about it," said Jimmy, "if you chiseled holes in the shape of constellations, you could put a bulb in your mouth and the stars would be projected out of your smile and onto the wall! Imagine, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Cassiopeia, the Triangulum Draconis, right inside your mouth! You'd be like a portable planetarium and…wait, what am I talking about? Why am I even taking part in this conversation? This is the very definition of absurd!"

Sheen cupped his hand to his mouth and whispered to Carl. "Just smile and nod."

"OK," grumbled Jimmy, "can we try to focus here guys? You and Carl can take the top bunk, and I'll take the bottom…OK?"

"I don't know, Jimmy," said Carl. "I'm—I'm kind of afraid of the top bunk. What if the ceiling falls on me?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Honestly, why do I associate with you two? Fine. You and Sheen can take the bottom bunk, and _I'll_ take the top one."

"What?" cried Sheen. "You want Carl and me to share a bunk? No way I'm sleeping next to him! He snores like a freight train and his breath smells like old lady! And what if he starts nibbling on my ear again like the time he did at _Ike's party_?"

Carl gasped. "I thought I told you never to speak of that again! Besides, you always start muttering things about girls, and it gives me bad dreams. Or you start thinking you're Ultralord and you make karate moves in your sleep. One time you kicked me right in the…"

"Ya, ya," broke in Jimmy, "so you're both obnoxious. All the more reason for you to bunk together."

Carl and Sheen protested simultaneously. "But…"

"I don't want to hear another word about it! Now go to sleep!"

Sheen saluted Jimmy with a dirty look, and with a great show of pushing and shoving, the two took off their shoes and climbed into bed. Jimmy scaled the metal ladder and pulled himself onto the top bunk. He fluffed his pillow and rolled his eyes as Sheen and Carl continued their conversation below.

"Move over!" said Sheen, jostling the metal frame as he presumably shoved Carl to the side. "You're such a whale! I feel like I'm being crushed!"

"Ow! Stop it Sheen! Woohoohooo…your hands are cold! Stop pushing me!"

"I wouldn't have to push you if you lost a few. Seriously, dude, lay off the chalupas."

"Don't mock my family's portly stature!" returned Carl in a whiny voice. "We're just big-boned, that's all!"

Sheen gave a snort. "If those are bones, then when people dig up your skeleton in a hundred years they're gonna swear they're looking at a hippo."

"Sheen!"

"I'm just saying…"

They continued to squabble for a while longer, then finally gave in to slumber. Carl's snoring reverberated through the room, and Sheen began to mutter_ very_ strange things under his breath. Jimmy tossed and turned fitfully, then finally sat up in bed.

"Oh, who am I kidding? I can't sleep."

He rested his back against the wall and pulled his knees up to his chest, then shivered slightly. A mere room away, Cindy was in the exact same position on her bunk. They sat back to back, separated by only a few inches of wall. Their heads were almost touching, though neither one of them knew it. As they sat there, isolated despite their closeness, their minds began to wander.

"_I can't believe it," _thought Cindy_. "It just doesn't seem possible."_

"_I don't even know what to think anymore_," said Jimmy to himself. "_I never thought _I'd_ become the villain. How could things have ended up this way?"_

"_I can't even begin to imagine what my future self has been through. Will I have it as bad as she did?"_

Jimmy bent forward, putting his head in his hands. "_Poor Aurora. Poor everyone. What have I done?" _

"_I don't know what to do. What does Aurora want? Does she want us to…to KILL evil Jimmy? I don't think I could do it. Could she?"_

Jimmy uncovered his eyes and stared off into space. "_Aurora…I saw the way she looked at me. I'm not HIM, but she hates me almost as much as if I were. She really hates me, Cindy. Do you hate me too?"_

"_Oh, Jimmy. Will we ever stop fighting? This whole thing started because of our fighting, both in this universe and in our own. I never meant for it to get this out of control."_

"_It's so strange, Cindy. Even in an entirely different universe, we're still at war with each other. I don't believe much in things like fate, but the events seem frighteningly parallel. Could it be we're destined to spend our lives hating each other?"_

"_Neutron, how could I be so stupid? I mean, look at Aurora and future you. It seems like we're fated to forever be enemies. Who was I kidding? We can never be anything else, neither in our universe nor in any other." _She paused. _"But still…_

"_But still, I can't help feeling…"_

"…_Like there's been a mistake. Like it wasn't supposed to happen this way."_

"…_that somehow, this was supposed to work out. And I wonder…"_

"_Is it too late to change this?"_

"_Is it too late to stop them?"_

"_And Jimmy…"_

"_Cindy…"_

"_Is it too late for us now?"_

Jimmy and Cindy closed their eyes and leaned their heads back against the wall. As they drifted off to sleep, their breaths rose and fell in unison. Back to back they dreamed, and without knowing it, they were more connected then they had ever been before.

* * *

Awww, - sniffsniff - Even I can't resist the occasional J/C chapter from time to time! More soon!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S.  
_


	12. Arsenal

Time for some action? Hope you all enjoy chapter 12.

Slightly off-topic Chapter Illustration (_to view it, remove the spaces, substitute . for., and copy+paste it in a new browser window_): acacia thorn . dev iant art(dotcom)/art/December-Eleventh-180798408

* * *

**Chapter 12: Arsenal**

Late in the night, all was quiet aboard the _Desperado_. The kids dozed peacefully in their rooms, and somewhere April tinkered with a sinister-looking weapon. Aurora paced up and down inside her room, staring at a photograph half-obscured by the darkness. The ship's autopilot drive filled the stillness with its gentle hum.

Then, without warning, the shriek of shredding metal tore through the air. Cindy and Libby were flung against the wall as the ship lurched to the left; on the other side, the boys flew from their bunks and crash-landed in a tangled heap on the floor.

"Caaaaarl, move your chub!" moaned Sheen, still half asleep. "You're rubbing up against me again."

Carl, who had awoken on impact, was less concerned with their sleeping situation. "AHHHHH! Everything's gone dark! What's going on?"

"Of course it's dark, you dumb lump. Dark. Sleep. Go back to sleep."

"No Sheen, something's wrong! The night light's out, and we're on the floor!"

He opened his eyes. "We're on the what?"

There was a noise like a small explosion, and a deafening crack crawled along the walls.

Jimmy shook them. "Guys, get up! We have to get out of here!"

"What the heck was that?" asked Sheen.

Jimmy glanced over at the door. "I think the ship's been hit."

"What?" panicked Carl. "Are we being attacked? OH GOD WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"

"Keep it together, Carl. We need to get to the cockpit and assess the situation!"

The room swayed back and forth as the boys struggled to stand. The tremors proved too much for the bunk bed, and it began to tip forward with a creak.

"Move!"

Jimmy pushed Carl and Sheen out of the way, just in time for the bunk to come crashing down. It missed them by a few inches.

"Get to the door!"

Goddard and the boys plunged forward into the hall. Emergency lights of some kind flashed up and down the corridor as they turned to run.

"Wait…" said Carl, "what about the girls?"

Sheen pushed ahead. "What about them?"

Jimmy grabbed Sheen by the shirt to stop him from taking off. "Carl, check if they're still in there!"

Carl rushed over to the girls' door, but his attempts to turn the handle ended in failure. He tugged harder, planting his foot against the door to anchor himself.

"It's stuck!" he grunted.

Sheen stuck out his chest, macho style. "Step aside, Carl! Doors are crafty beasts - they can smell fear a mile away. This situation calls for a REAL man."

As luck would have it, Cindy kicked the door open at the exact moment Sheen gave the handle his most forceful tug. It shot open and banged him right on the nose.

"Wahhh, my sniffer! I call foul!"

Cindy stumbled out into the hallway and fell to one knee. She held a motionless Libby in her arms.

She looked to Jimmy for an explanation. "Neutron?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say the ship is under attack. Cindy...is Libby...unconscious?"

"I-I think so. She hit the wall pretty hard."

"Oh no, poor Libby!" swooned Carl. "She was so young! So full of life!"

"Cut it out, Carl," said Jimmy, as he stepped forward to examine the unconscious girl. "We need to approach the situation in a calm, logical manner."

That was Sheen's cue to approach the situation in a hasty, illogical manner. "Step aside, Jimmy! My Ultralord training manual prepared me for this. I know just what to do in this situation. Hold on…"

Sheen licked his finger and held it out in the air for everyone to see. A wad of spit glistened in the flashing emergency lights, and the kids gave him a puzzled look. He cracked an enormous grin, then jabbed his drool-coated finger into Libby's ear. She instantly jerked upright.

"Whoa! What was _that_?" She picked at her ear, and the ensuing examination of her finger revealed a slimy trail of Sheen-slobber. She rubbed her ear like crazy. "Ugh, Sheen! That is WAY off the grossness scale!"

The ship jolted again, and the kids lost their balance. Sheen and Carl smacked heads, and Cindy and Jimmy crashed to the floor.

Cindy pulled herself up onto her hands and knees. "Neutron?"

"No time! Let's get to the bridge!"

They bolted down the hall and across the corridor, then through the double doors into the cockpit. Sheen's eyes grew wide at the sight that awaited them.

"Sweet elbow-freckle of Ultralord, look at that!"

Aurora was strapped into the pilot's seat, punching on various controls and joysticks like a madwoman. Outside the glassy curves of the viewing portal, a massive silver ship drifted through deep space. Embossed on its side was a blue atom decal.

Jimmy struggled to keep his footing. "Aurora, what's going on?"

Aurora glanced quickly behind her. "What are you guys doing out of your rooms?"

A stream of blue laser fire rocketed out of the other ship, and Aurora yanked on the controls, dodging it by a hair.

"It's not safe out here! In case you haven't noticed, we're under attack. Get back to your rooms! Unless of course, you want to stay and join in the fun…"

"You call this FUN?" guffawed Libby.

Aurora pushed a big red button, and the _Desperado_ fired a bolt of green energy at the opposing ship. It did little damage.

"April," yelled Aurora, "where the heck are you? Forward shields are down, and the starboard weapons array is offline. I think it's time to try out that new gun of yours!"

April poked her head in from an adjoining room. "Really? YEEESSS! I will go and get it!"

"What's her deal?" asked Jimmy, watching as she dashed off. "We're getting blasted, and she's grinning like a kid at Christmas."

Aurora shrugged. "April is a weapons specialist. She _really_ likes guns."

The opposing ship cut through the darkness and swung around to face them. A gigantic weapon mounted on the front began pulling in streams of energy from the surrounding space as it charged to fire.

"Aurora!" pointed Cindy. "Pay attention!"

"Huh? Oh, WHOA!"

Aurora rolled the ship to the side, narrowly avoiding the brunt of the blast. The kids tumbled head over heels as the _Desperado_ spun out of control. A shower of sparks fell from the ceiling, and the viewing portal shattered, sending shards cascading in all directions.

"Oh no!" cried Carl. "I think I lost my right shoe!"

Jimmy dug his fingers into the carpet. "Carl, we've got bigger things to worry about! We're about to be sucked into space!"

"Not quite, Neutron," said Aurora, jumping up. "We've got an vacuum shield surrounding the portal. It won't keep out the big stuff, but as long as it holds, we'll have air. Hey APRIL! Get in here!"

The reply echoed from another room. "Coming!"

April darted in, panting heavily. Slung across her back was the most enormous blaster weapon any of them had ever seen. It was covered in spikes and glowing ridges, and was so tall and thick around that it looked more like a cannon than a rifle. She hoisted the weapon onto her shoulder and strode forward.

"Everyone, MOVE."

"Wow," admired Sheen. "Now that's what I call a LASER!"

April stood firm, silhouetted against the jagged curves of the broken viewing portal. Beyond, the opposing ship hovered menacingly.

April took aim. "I love my job…"

She pulled the trigger. A dazzling beam of energy shot out of the barrel, and the kids crumpled to the floor, blinded by the light. April was thrown from the force of the blast, and as she tumbled backward the enemy ship burst into a cascading display of soundless explosions. Fireballs flared out into space, and pieces of rubble shot off in all directions.

Carl shaded his eyes against the spectacle. "Oooh! Awwww!"

"Check it _out_! She just wasted that ship!"

A chunk of rubble hit the vacuum shield with enough velocity to break through, and it careened toward Sheen like a missile. In a split second, Aurora jumped into the air and kicked it out of the way. It smashed against the right wall.

Sheen swiveled to face her, wide-eyed. "That was just like the flying dragon kick that Ultralord uses in episode 66! You two gotta be the coolest girls _ever_!"

Aurora and April exchanged grins.

"You like that?" asked Aurora. "You should see us when we actually get into it."

April nudged the other woman. "Ha ha, remember the time that those Oglonkons raided the space station? And Nav pretended to be a Sorpnok?"

They both burst out into laughter, then took turns whacking each other on the back. The fit of camaraderie subsided, and they linked their arms as the kids stared at them in confusion.

"I don't understand what just happened," said Jimmy at last. "That ship…it had my atom symbol on it. Was my alternate self aboard?"

"As if!" scoffed Aurora. "There was nobody aboard that ship. It's merely a scout vessel…one of thousands of identical craft sent out by our dear dictator to harass people."

Cindy scowled. "You mean we went through all that, and we're no closer to beating him?"

April shook her head. "Welcome to our world."

Aurora turned to the control panel and began punching buttons. "Actually, we're further away than ever. I ran a diagnostic, and by the looks of things, we took some pretty heavy damage to the bow. I've got the forward shields back up, but we'd better stop for repairs."

"Repairs?" echoed Jimmy.

"Uh-huh. As luck would have it, there's a spaceship service station nearby."

"That's...convenient?"

"Isn't it? They're pretty much everywhere. I like to think of them as the Wal-Marts of the future. Well, minus the heinously bright lights and chintzy junk made in China. Our waystations are stocked with everything you could ever need."

It was Sheen's turn to interject. "Do you think they'll have a limited-edition Ultralord fan club ring engraved with twin shield designs and equipped with a duo button receiver that can transmit messages between rings and encode top secret stuff and play ringtones…and…and…"

Libby laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Sheen…you better stop before you hurt yourself."

Aurora took her place in the pilot's chair, and maneuvered the ship past the flaming rubble field and into the expanse beyond.

"So, Aurora," began Jimmy, "this space station...how long until we –"

Aurora pointed out the window. "Do you see that little grayish brown speck way out there?"

He squinted. "Ya…"

"That's it. The whole thing is built right into an asteroid."

"Oh."

The speck grew larger and larger as they approached.

"OK, so here's what I've been thinking," began Sheen, stroking an imaginary beard. "What idiot came up with the name 'Dictator Jimmy', anyway? Shouldn't he have like, a cooler nickname? Something like 'The Murderlord', or 'the Disc Jockey of Evil'..."

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," said Aurora.

"Or maybe just 'DJ' for short," continued Sheen. "Yeah, that's good. DJ. See? Five seconds and I come up with a better name than an entire universe."

"Wait," said Carl, "does DJ stand for 'Dictator Jimmy', or 'Disc Jockey of evil'?"

"It doesn't stand for anything. That's just his name now. Now revel in my genius."

Carl reveled, and Aurora practically face-palmed. "Please tell me this isn't going to stick."

"If it bothers you," soothed Libby, "we could…"

Sheen cut her off. "Are we there yet?"

"Hey, Captain Ritalin!" snapped Aurora. "Focus here! I know it's hard for you to overcome your own stupidity, but please. Here - while we're in transit, why don't you make a list of things you want me to buy for you?"

Aurora nodded to April, who unclipped a palm-pilot like device from her belt and handed it to Sheen. The kids passed it around, and when they had finished, April offered the device to Aurora.

"See?" she grinned. "Look at that. We're there."

Rows upon rows of shops, boutiques, and superstores wound their way around the asteroid like a spiral staircase. Pulsing lights and colorful advertisements caught the viewer's eye from every storefront, and even the pitted rock in between sported a handful of alien product logos.

"Wow," said Libby appreciatively. "Now that's shoppin' done right!"

A loud click echoed through the room as the _Desperado_ docked on the floating space station. Aurora locked down. "All right everyone, shall we? We're docked safely at the service garage, and I'd like to get all of this done as quickly and painlessly as possible."

She rose from her seat and led the others out. They proceeded through several identical corridors before arriving at an innocuous door. Aurora stopped beside it, and an automated voice spoke.

"Identify yourself," came Vox's tinny command.

"Ugh! Curse the day I installed voice recognition chips in this stupid thing!"

"Voice match confirmed. Welcome back, Aurora."

Aurora opened the door a tiny crack and sidled in.

Jimmy attempted to peer inside. "What's in there?"

"Butt out! It's MY room, thank you very much. I'd like some privacy if you don't mind."

When Aurora reappeared a moment later, her face was concealed behind her silver mask, and she held a number of pills in her hand.

"Here," she said. "Swallow these."

She placed one in Jimmy's palm, and he frowned. "Uh...why?"

"They're translators. The Dictator's rise to power may have catapulted human culture into the spotlight, but not all alien species are capable of understanding human speech. These translators will make you mutually intelligible."

"But why swa–"

"Just do it."

Jimmy shrugged and tossed it back, and the others followed his example. Aurora nodded to April, who took the lead. They wound their way down another corridor, through a narrow archway, and past the electric door that had zapped Sheen. The front door dropped open with a hiss, and they walked single file down the ramp-way and out of the ship.

Cindy looked around. "Wow…this place is sleaze-ball central."

The others took in their surroundings without comment. The concrete room faded into shadow at each of its four corners, where sketchy-looking characters buzzed over vessels of every shape and size. The shrill whir of mechanical drills permeated the space, and smoke from burnt-out engines hung in black clouds, illuminated from time to time by falling sparks.

Sheen scratched his chin. "Hmm. You think they sell chicken wings here?"

Cindy glared at him; April strode forward and let out an ear-splitting whistle, instantly turning every head in the workshop.

"Listen up, lowlifes! We have a Gorlock ship here in need of a speedy repair. I will pay double to the mechanic who can fix it the fastest and with no questions asked. Who is up for the job?"

A wave of murmuring rippled through the shop, until at last a shifty green alien limped out from behind one of the wrecks. Two enormous brown aliens loomed in back of him – their apparent lack of eyes made them look all the more threatening. The mechanic rubbed his clawed hands together as he spoke.

"G-G-Good d-day to you, my esteemed G-G-Gorlock. My name is F-Flint, and these t-two here are Bronk and Lunkus, m-my err…assistant mechanics."

Bronk and Lunkus took the time to voice their opinions.

"Guh."

"Flunk."

April narrowed her eyes at them, and Flint visibly trembled under her stare. Lunkus and Bronk didn't seem to notice.

"Do you think you can manage a simple repair job, or do we need to take our business elsewhere?"

Flint eyed the Gorlock woman nervously. "I-I assure you, we w-will take e-e-excellent care of y-your esteemed vehicle."

"Very well, the job is yours. But if I find even _one_ screw out of place, I will report you to the Gorlock High Council, and I can assure you that the recriminations will be swift...and final."

Flint shrunk backward, and April broke into a malevolent grin. Aurora took this as a cue to step forward, and this time even Bronk and Lunkus gave a little jump.

"O-o-o-oh," whispered Flint. "It's t-t-that human with the s-s-silver m-mask!"

Hushed comments wound their way around the room, and the kids listened in puzzlement as snippets of the conversation reached their ears.

"Look there! Do you know who that is? …"

"…Aurora's her name. I've heard lots about her…"

"…Heard that she's the person who's gotten closest to the Dictator and lived to tell about it…"

"…Someone told me that she shoots green fire out of her hands…"

"…no, no, she's a pilot…single-handedly destroyed 300 of the Dictator's scout ships…"

The mask shielded Aurora's face from the others, but she seemed to be enjoying the attention.

At last she spoke. "Hey Libs, you up for a shopping spree?"

The aliens visibly relaxed.

Libby winked. "Has the answer to that ever been 'no'? Mall of the future, here we come!"

Aurora tossed her hair as she turned, and Libby followed. Every eye in the shop followed the pilot and her companion, and when Aurora paused at the exit, the room's occupants held their collective breath.

"Hey Nerdtron, stay here and make sure these mechanics don't try any funny business. I don't trust them as far as I can throw them. And Cindy, keep an eye on Jimmy and make sure he doesn't complicate the situation by being…well, himself. And April, keep an eye on both of them and make sure their fighting doesn't get out of hand. Got it?"

April nodded, and Cindy and Jimmy glared first at Aurora, then at each other.

Sheen waved his arms at her. "Hey, what about me 'n Carl?"

"I don't care what you do, as long as you don't get in our way. You're both creative young men…so go find a way to entertain yourselves. I'm sure there's a shop that sells food somewhere in this place. Just mention my name when they ask for payment."

"All right, alien grub! Let's hit it!"

"I don't know, Sheen," said Carl, hanging back. "This seems like a pretty big place and we might get lost and…"

Sheen waved away his friend's concern. "Don't be such a pansy, Carl! Besides…think of all the awesomely freakish foods we could find!"

Carl brightened. "Ya, maybe they'll have some of those Plutonian Gut Chunks that I got to eat when we were on that alien game show!"

"That's the spirit, man! To the food court, away!"

The two made a mad break for the door and were gone within seconds.

Aurora elbowed Libby. "See? Like moths to a flame. Now let's get out of here before any of these weirdos decide to creep on me."

* * *

Comments? Questions? Theories on the meaning of life? I'd love to read 'em!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. Image of the Desperado was rendered by Flank and then photoshopped by Mara with his permission.  
_


	13. Behind the Mask

Hey everyone! Sorry about the hold up…we just moved, and I've seriously been unpacking boxes night and day. It's RIDICULOUS.

Anyway, it just occurred to me that I haven't posted a chapter illustration in like forever, so I'm overdue. Here ya go:

_To view chappie pic, go here (remove the spaces, swap . add com, then paste the link into a new browser tab): _acacia thorn . dev iant art(dotcom)/art/Consumed-84399983

OK, onwards and upwards, people!

* * *

**Chapter 13: Behind the Mask**

Aurora nodded at April one more time, and she and Libby exited the repair shop and made their way into the main area of the mall. A crystalline walkway extended out as far as the eye could see, and shops of every shape and size lined the walls on either side. Dance music and flashing lights beckoned the shopper, and each vibrant advertisement seemed to be more extravagant than the one before it. Casinos, clothes shops, entertainment booths, replica monuments, and fake plants gave the impression of a futuristic Las Vegas. Libby surveyed her surroundings in awe as Aurora scrolled through the shopping list contained on the palm pilot.

"Oh, you think that's funny, huh? Well, aren't you the little comedian. I mean seriously, what do you think; I'm made of money?"

"Huh? Who are you talkin' to?"

Aurora flashed the palm pilot screen at Libby. "Neutron! He put down 'Full Spectrum Chemical Analysis Kit' on the shopping list. Do you have any idea how much one of those things costs?"

"Uh…to tell you the truth, I have no idea what that even _is_."

"Well, let me tell you, it doesn't come cheap. Just the Hafnium itself costs…"

"Um, no offense, but I _really_ don't need to know."

"And would you look at this!" she exclaimed, throwing up her hands. "Someone wrote down 'man-eating shark-hamster with five heads'. Honestly…"

"Uh-huh. That would be Sheen."

"And "foot fungus cream"? What the…"

"Carl."

"Honestly, why do I bother? Let's just ditch the virtual shopping list and do things the old fashioned way. You game?"

Libby broke into a huge grin. "All right, that's the Cindy I know an' love! We'll show these future people we're still the queens of consumerism!"

Aurora stifled a giggle, and though Libby couldn't see her companion's smile, it was evident in her voice.

"I've got it Libs. I know just what we should do while we're here. I was thinking earlier that I should buy you kids some space suits, and this is just the place to do it. After all, your current outfits don't offer much protection from cosmic rays or disease-causing microbes – not to mention that they're painfully outdated fashion-wise – so why don't you help me pick out some new ones? Heh heh...I can't wait to see Neutron in a full-on radiation suit..."

Aurora grabbed Libby by the arm and practically dragged her into the closest shop at hand, which happened to be labeled 'Supernova'. The flashing pink doors slid closed behind them, and they found themselves in a jungle of merchandise – racks upon racks of identically-sized suits, but with no two alike in color and design.

Libby blinked. "Wow."

"Well, this looks like as good a place as any to start looking. I'm sure they've got something stylish at a reasonable price. And if not, I can always…"

Aurora's words seemed to fade away as Libby watched her dart about the shop, gesturing at various price signs and outfit designs. Her childlike enthusiasm stood in stark contrast to her cold, expressionless mask. Libby looked at the ground, sadness suddenly gripping her.

"Aurora?" murmured Libby.

"Mm-hmm?"

"Aurora…why…why do you wear that mask all the time?"

"We all wear masks, Libs. Mine just happens to be one you can hold in your hand."

Libby shifted uncomfortably. "But _why_ would you want somethin' like that?"

"When you look at a mask, Libby, what do you see? You see nothing… no thoughts, no emotions, no weaknesses. In my line of work, you can't afford an Achilles' heel. The only way to endure is to block out all extraneous feelings. Besides, if I ever saw _him_, face-to-face, I just…I don't want him to see me. I don't want anyone to see me. It makes it too personal, Libby. And I can't deal with that anymore."

Libby considered. "Well, maybe you could take it off for a while, just while you're around me. I mean…won't it be hard to get a good look at these outfits with that big mask hanging over your eyes? And besides, it's not like you could make any face I haven't seen already."

Aurora hesitated for a moment, then reached for her mask.

"Go on!" encouraged Libby. "Nobody will mind."

She pulled it off slowly, and Libby broke into a smile.

"There we go! Now, I think I spotted the perfect outfit for my girl Cindy. What do you think?"

Libby yanked a suit off the rack and displayed it proudly. The garment consisted of dark chrome fabric embroidered with swirling celestial designs. As Libby turned the outfit over in her hands, the light caught shades of sapphire, aquamarine, and acid green.

"Mmm, perfect," agreed Aurora. "It'll match her eyes!"

"So, should we ask the manager to get it in her size, or what?"

"You don't have to worry about that. These space suits are one-size fits all…they automatically adjust to your body shape for a perfect fit. Speaking of a perfect fit, I think Neutron should go with this one."

Aurora lifted a deep blue ensemble from behind a row of others. A narrow strip of silver cut through the blue and formed the point of a triangle across the chest; two matching metal cuffs above each wrist completed the look.

"Mmm-hmm! That is FINE! Cindy will lose her marbles when she sees him in that. You know what she's said in the past about clothes makin' the man."

Aurora gaped for a moment, then burst out into laughter. "Ah, Libs. It's good to finally spend time with you after all these years. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to just tromp around a mall…but enough of that! Let's hurry up and pay for these, then try a few other stores and see what we can find."

"After you!"

Aurora and Libby scurried off to continue their search; elsewhere, Sheen and Carl had found their way to the food court and were sitting at a metallic oval table, scrutinizing the digital menu.

"Um, Sheen…" asked Carl, "have you ever heard of "Tep-luggle eggs" before?"

"I'm still trying to figure out what "Phlonker Muffins" and "Pindo Scales" are. Jeez, you'd think they'd have pictures of the food or something."

"I wonder if they sell hypoallergenic protein substitutes..."

"Can I take your order?" came an impatient voice.

Sheen and Carl gave a little jump, and turned to see a very tall alien woman beside their table. Her green hair squiggled like a thousand tiny snakes as her six arms moved in all directions.

"Wow!" admired Sheen. "Check it out Carl, it's an alien freak! Hey Lady, can I get your autograph?"

The woman stared at them through half-lidded eyes, clearly not impressed with Sheen's comment.

"From where I'm standing, sir," she said in a less-than-polite tone, "_You're_ the alien freak. I happen to be from the planet that owns this establishment."

Sheen scratched his head. "Oh."

The alien waitress shifted her weight to one hip, brushing back a wriggling lock. "Now, may I please take your order?"

"I guess I'll take…um…" Sheen closed his eyes, then pointed at random to an item on the menu. He squinted down at it. "Fludgecake, please!"

The woman grabbed a notepad with one hand, scribbled down notes with another, reached behind her for a tray, flicked buttons on a dispenser of some kind, and produced a large lump of furry orange jelly, all within ten seconds.

"Wow, fast food!"

The waitress rolled her eyes. "You've clearly never been to a modern restaurant."

"Please, Miss Alien Lady," piped in Carl, "do you sell Plutonian Gut Chunks here?"

"Of course!"

She whipped out a plate heaped high with the chunky material, and Carl began wolfing it down. Sheen poked his food, and it twitched and scurried to the far side of the plate.

"Hello!" he shouted, jerking backward. "I thought I ordered already-dead food!"

He pummeled it with his fist, and after some initial resistance the creature gave a little shriek, then laid still. Sheen shoved the whole thing into his mouth.

The waitress tapped her pen on the table. "Payment method, please."

Juices dripped down from the corners of Sheen's mouth. "Mmfpt?"

"PAY-MENT METH-OD," she repeated impatiently. "How do you intend to pay for your meal?"

Sheen swallowed. "Uh, put it on my tab?"

"You mean…you want to buy it on credit? Name please."

A light bulb went on in Carl's brain. "Oh! Aurora's name!"

The waitress's eyes widened. "Aurora? As in...Aurora Vortex?"

"Ya…that's the one," said Sheen. "You know, about yay tall, with a bad attitude and seriously smokin' outfit."

She backed up a step. "Please forgive my previous comments, sir. I had no idea you were guests of Aurora. Don't worry about the expense for your meal...it's on the house."

The waitress bowed and fled, leaving a bunch of surprised customers in her wake.

"Dang," said Sheen. "I wonder if Aurora's name would get me a free burger at McSpanky's."

The boys mowed through the rest of the meal, then slumped down into their chairs, rubbing their overstuffed bellies in satisfaction. As Sheen picked pieces of food out from between his teeth, a shadow fell over the table.

"I see you had no trouble at all finding the food court," said Aurora dryly.

Carl opened his eyes. "Libby? Aurora?"

"Hey babes!" waved Sheen. "We were just talking about you."

Aurora raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure whether I should I be flattered, or very concerned."

"Havin' fun, guys?" interjected Libby. "What did you have for lunch?"

Sheen considered. "I'm not exactly sure. Kind of tasted like…moldy bread mixed with cough syrup."

Libby wrinkled her nose.

"What have you girls been up to?" asked Carl.

"Shoppin' galore! We've picked out outfits for me, Cindy, Jimmy, and Sheen so far."

"Awesome! Does mine have Ultralord on it?"

"Sure does," said Libby. "Aurora an' me had to special order the Ultralord decal, but we got it. You'd be surprised what they sell in this place. Apparently there's quite a market for Earth movies and TV shows ever since DJ's evilness launched humans into the spotlight."

"Seriously, Libby, you too? Is 'DJ?' really a thing now?"

"I'm sorry! It's catchy!"

Aurora folded her arms. "Anyway, Ultrafreak, you should consider yourself lucky that Libby talked me into getting something you'd like. I was gonna buy a pink Power Rangers suit just to tick you off."

Carl looked up expectantly. "What about me? Do I get a suit?"

Aurora broke into a mischievous grin. "Why, yes. In fact, I have a..._special_ outfit in mind for you."

"Ah, gee, thanks!"

"Come on, Libs," motioned Aurora. "Let's wrap this up and get out of this dump." A little smile played about the corners of her lips. "The sooner we finish, the sooner we get to see Carl in his new ensemble."

Aurora gave a cruel laugh as the two of them disappeared into the mall. Sheen glanced over at Carl uneasily.

"I didn't like the sound of that laugh, dude. It was like the "I'm going to do something really evil" laugh my little sister uses when she puts plastic wrap over the toilet seat."

"Oh…" Carl looked anxious. "You think so?"

"Ah well, it's all good," said Sheen, kicking back. "Besides, what's the worst they can do?"

* * *

Famous last words.

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. If you'd like to reach her, her email address is ivory23 at idreamofjimmy . com._


	14. Repairs

Time for another chapter! Thanks x10 to everyone who has replied so far. It's great to read your comments!

* * *

**Chapter 14:** **Repairs**

While Sheen and Carl digested their meals in the food court, Cindy and Jimmy were back in the repair shop, struggling to fix the ship with the help of the alien mechanics. Flint hung over the boy's shoulder, fidgeting while Jimmy tightened the bolt on a newly welded section of fuselage. Beads of sweat dripped down Jimmy's forehead as Flint's eyes flickered from side to side.

"P-please h-hurry, my esteemed h-human. If the Gorlock comes back and sees you d-doing our job, there'll be hell to p-pay."

Jimmy wiped his face. "I'm working on it, but this alloy isn't very malleable. Does it contain traces of Carbonium, by any chance?"

"Hmm, yes," nodded Flint shakily. "A very intelligent d-deduction. Y-you certainly are g-g-gifted."

Jimmy straightened up and grimaced as he rubbed the small of his back.

"Getting tired?" asked Cindy, the barest hint of mockery in her voice. She handed him a towel, which he gladly accepted. He wiped his forehead, and Cindy took the opportunity to glare at Flint and his two assistants.

"It sure would be nice if you mechanics actually had a single brain between the three of you. We're paying you to be useful, not stand around and watch."

"Don't worry about it, Cindy. I'm enjoying myself. Besides, if I left it up to these characters, they'd use thumbtacks and rubber bands to put the ship back together."

Cindy shot a savage smile at Flint, whose face turned even greener than before. Lunkus scratched his greasy head.

"Lunkus no understand. If you no need us, we why stay here?"

"Me bored and tired," agreed Bronk. "Sleep now please."

"Y-Yes, my m-men are correct," breathed Flint, clicking his nails together. "If we're no longer n-needed… can w-we take a b-break?"

April's voice boomed out of thin air. "HEY! What did you say?"

Flint's sharp intake of breath was clearly audible, and every head in the vicinity swiveled at the sound. April stood in the doorway of the _Desperado_, lording over the scene with her hands on her hips. She marched down the ramp-way and stuck her finger in the mechanic's face.

"Take a break? You are asking to take a break after the boy has done all your work? Why aren't YOU fixing the ship, lowlife? I thought I was paying you to work, you worthless scum!" She drew her blaster weapon and planted the barrel square between Flint's beady eyes. "Do I make myself clear? Or shall I give the walls a new coat of organic paint?"

"Y-yes-yes ma'am," stuttered Flint, nearly dropping the wrench clutched in one filthy hand. "We'll g-get back t-to w-work a-at once!"

Flint, Bronk, and Lunkus frantically scrambled back to their stations, and with a satisfied smile April strolled back into the _Desperado_. As soon as she was out of sight, a gray biped scuttled out from behind a nearby cruiser and tapped Flint on the shoulder.

"Flint," he whispered, "why do you let the Gorlock woman push you around? You should refuse to fix her ship after the way she's treated you."

"You d-don't understand, Skleem. You don't say "no" to a Gorlock. B-besides, these people are the resistance. They're g-going to save us from the Dictator. Sometimes it is better t-to turn a blind eye to the actions of one criminal if it can help get rid of someone e-even worse."

"Excuses, excuses," hissed Skleem. "You're a coward."

A different mechanic joined them from behind the silhouette of another wreck, his beautiful lean body backlit by the glow of distant welding torches.

"Don't talk about things you don't understand, Skleem," he sneered. "I'd rather put up with the insults of an ornery woman than find myself meeting up with the Dictator again. Just because he hasn't attacked your species doesn't mean you are immune. Tell me, have you ever seen his face? Have every had your skin charred by the heat of your burning home? Have you heard your family screaming, seen a sky the color of fire?"

Other voices joined in from around the garage, and Jimmy and Cindy listened uneasily.

"That brute attacked my homeworld…"

"…My husband and kids, I lost everything in the attacks…"

"My best friend disappeared in the battle against him…"

The shouts and calls built in pitch until they escalated to a trilling, as if a dozen wild animals had been loosed in the shop.

"Disgusting humans! I hate them all…"

"Down with the Dictator!"

"…May he suffer as we have suffered!"

"…Soon the day will come when our people are avenged…"

The beautiful mechanic's voice echoed out across the workshop. "Yes! Thank the gods of all our worlds that the resistance is close to a breakthrough! Soon enough we will be rid of that despot forever, and then the whole galaxy will have cause to celebrate!"

Jimmy tapped Cindy on the shoulder. His eyes were solemn, and he motioned for her to follow. After shooting a wary glance in both directions, she tiptoed after him. They crept around to the far side of the _Desperado_, and as soon as the alien mechanics were out of sight, Jimmy fell down onto all fours and crawled into the small crack between the ship's underbelly and the concrete floor. Cindy sidled in next to him, coughing on the dust.

"What's the big idea Neutron?" she asked, struggling to crouch in the cramped space. "Why are we under here?"

Jimmy's face was cast in shadow. "Did you hear all the stuff that those mechanics have been saying…about all the horrible things that I've done in this universe? It's awful…"

"Jimmy, you have to get it through your head. The Dictator isn't YOU. You've got to stop beating yourself up over it...and you've got to stop dragging me into crawlspaces."

"It's just that…something occurred to me back there. All those aliens are desperate for revenge…and from what I can deduce, they expect a great battle. But Cindy, what will we accomplish if we DO plan a large-scale attack? Can you imagine how massive the loss of life would be? I don't want to see any more people die. So I've been thinking…and I think there's another way."

"What do you mean, 'another way'? What can we possibly do?"

"Well, I've been formulating an idea. I'll admit it's a little unorthodox, and will probably make a lot of people very angry, especially if they're looking for revenge. But Cindy…it could save millions of lives."

"What is it? Tell me already!"

"I can't tell you in here, because one of the mechanics might hear me." He regarded her for a moment, then laid a hand on hers. "But promise me…promise me you'll defend me when I tell Aurora my idea. Even if it seems crazy at first, I need you on my side. She'll listen to you."

Cindy stared at him blankly.

"Please, Cindy…"

She was still considering whether or not to pull her hand away when Flint poked his head under the ship. Both kids jumped in surprise and smacked their heads against the bottom.

"W-what are you two doing under there? Are y-you conducting some s-sort of courtship ritual?"

"W-what?" stammered Jimmy.

"With HIM? No way!"

Cindy shoved him to prove her point, and he shoved her back. She jumped up in anger, only to bang her head against the bottom of the ship a second time. When the dust cleared, Cindy found that she had fallen onto a confused and debris-caked Jimmy. They stared at each other in surprise for a moment before April's face appeared beside them.

"All right you two, let's get back to…WHOA….hey…!" April covered her eyes with one clawed hand. "Sorry, I had no idea you two were…"

"Ewww!" shouted Cindy.

"It's not what it looks like!" he cried. "Get off me!"

Scowling, he pushed her off and scrambled out into the open. She followed, her arms crossed tightly and her face squeezed into an angry pout. Jimmy snatched the towel he had used previously and wiped the dust off his face, then tossed it at Flint.

He whirled away from Cindy. "Let's just finish the repairs and get out of here," he said.

* * *

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	15. My Salvation

Sorry about the huge wait, mi amigops!

Chapter illustration (remove spaces, substitute dot and com): bob-raigen . dev iant art(dotcom)/art/Aurora-s-Dear-Revenge-167566103

* * *

**Chapter 15: My Salvation**

Meanwhile, Aurora and Libby were heading back to the garage, giggling over their most recent purchase. Libby turned Carl's new outfit over in her hands, basking in the glow of their conspiracy.

"It's PERFECT for him, wouldn't you say?" asked Aurora demurely.

"I couldn't agree more. It's about time someone gave that boy some edge."

Aurora laughed. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he gets a load of this!"

The two of them exchanged a high five, and in their ensuing giggle-fit, Aurora blundered into a passerby. She stopped to hurriedly apologize, only to be struck speechless by the heartbreakingly beautiful alien before her.

"OoOo!" The alien woman's sparkling orange eyes trailed over Aurora. Her blue cheeks flushed not with color, but with a faint shimmer, and for a moment she stood like a statue. When she spoke, her voice was like falling silver. "Are you…Aurora Vortex?"

Aurora crossed her arms. "Who wants to know?"

With a murmuring sigh, the gorgeous creature fell to her knees and tilted her head in a gesture of submission. Her wine colored hair spilled over her shoulders and came to rest on the tiled floor.

"Aurora Vortex. Forgive me for blundering into you. Please, I wish to thank you."

"You what? Why?"

"Allow me to express my gratitude," repeated the woman. "You are solely responsible for my salvation."

Aurora took a step back and raised her palms. "Hold up a second, lady. What are you prattling on about? I've never…"

"You might not remember me, Aurora, but _I_ remember you. I believe that on your human calendar the date was June 5th, three years ago. Three years ago, on the fateful day when the Dictator attacked Li'ilia Prime, my home world."

Aurora's breath caught in her throat. She tilted her chin back ever so slightly, whirlpools of emotion churning acid-like within her eyes.

The captivating alien continued. "On that day, we were faced with complete destruction, and in the wake of such carnage I saw no future left. I remember...I remember seeing you. I saw you and the other members of the resistance fighting a battalion of mercenaries before my very eyes. I shall never forget the dedication and fervor with which you fought."

Aurora dipped her head, and her bangs spilled forward, plunging her face into shadow as the alien went on.

"I will never forget your courage, your strength…and I will never forget the end." With this, she reached out and touched the tip of Aurora's boot in a gesture of quiet empathy. "I thought that you would surely die, Aurora," she said, her voice lowered to just above a whisper. "When he captured you, I thought your life was lost. But when I heard that you had escaped – that you had survived against all odds – it showed me that I, too, can survive. And for that, I am eternally in your debt."

She touched her graceful head to the tiles of the floor.

"I know I can never truly thank you enough. I hope someday the Gorlocks and my people will be able to join together and learn from one another in the peaceful days ahead. And if you're willing, when all is over and you have killed him, I would like to meet with you once again."

She stood up and breezed away without another word. Libby stared after her for a moment, and upon turning back she barely had time to see the heart-wrenching expression on Aurora's face before she covered it with her mask.

"Girl...you didn't ever tell me about this. That alien...she said DJ captured you. Is that true?"

But Aurora was far away, lost in memory. "Yes, I remember that day too. June 5th…It was my eighteenth birthday. Eighteen and at war. Eighteen. Eighteen, and HIS prisoner."

She slowly wrapped her arms around herself, as if to shield her body from a draft of cold air. Images of the past flickered through her mind: ships streaking across a starry sky…fiery explosions...rubble...people screaming...laughter…the clink of chains…a pair of piercing blue eyes and a cruel smile…

Libby regarded her with sympathy. "Cind? Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No!" shouted Aurora, suddenly straightening. "I'm fine. I don't want to talk about it, so don't you ever bring it up again. And my name is Aurora, not Cindy. Get it?"

She whirled and took off, her jaw set grimly beneath her silver façade. Despite Libby's attempts at further conversation, Aurora was dangerously silent the entire walk back. From time to time Libby snuck glances at the woman who had once, in another lifetime it seemed, been her friend.

Thoughts of the past weighing on her mind, Libby heaved a sigh as they entered into the service garage. She barely had time to inhale again before a wrench came sailing past her. With astonishing reflexes, Aurora's hand shot up and caught the tool. She turned it over in her palm before speaking in a low, threatening voice.

"What's going on, April…"

April marched over, in a huff. "I'll tell you what is going on! These mechanics aren't even worth the oxygen they consume! Jimmy did all the work, and I see no reason why we should pay them!"

"B-but, my esteemed G-Gorlock," protested Flint, "w-we did assist him in his…"

"Silence, lowlife!"

April grabbed another metal tool from the ground and pitched it at Flint, who ducked just in time to miss being hit. He was still yelping and flailing in a cowardly display when another mechanic let out a scream.

"Holy *%#$! Her hand is glowing!"

Cries of amazement erupted from around the workshop. Libby swung around in confusion, but when she turned to Aurora her half-formed question froze on her lips. Green light trickled down Aurora's left arm and pooled into a rippling electric cloud around her hand. Sparks flickered in center of the aura, and the wrench wilted in her hand like a dying flower. The molten metal trickled harmlessly through her fingers and splashed to the ground with a sizzling spatter.

The mechanic turned to her, breathless. "What…what in the world ARE you?"

"This suit that I'm wearing…" said Aurora, without the barest hint of emotion in her voice, "do you know where it came from? Do you know how it works? I'll tell you this much: it's powered by my thoughts and emotions. The more I feel, the more energy I unleash. Perhaps you would like to see just what it's capable of?"

Aurora's entire body stiffened with concentrated rage. Waves of green light spilled down her arms and swarmed around her clenched fingertips. After a moment the light coalesced into a fireball. She tightened her fingers around it, and with a shout, hurled the glittering meteor at the nearest wall.

Flint flung himself onto the ground to avoid the collision. The bolt sailed overhead and smashed into the concrete, and when the dust cleared, a gaping hole smoked where the wall once stood.

"You…you…" choked Flint. "You almost k-killed me!

Skleem stepped forward. "Forgive my rudeness, human with the silver mask. But I think it would be in everyone's best interest if you left at once." He helped a shaking and pasty-faced Flint to his feet, then glared at April. "Take your ship and go, the repair is free. Just never come back here again."

Aurora was in the act of tightening her grasp around a second energy bolt when Sheen and Carl strolled mindlessly in on the scene.

"Achoo!" Carl sneezed. "Boy, sure is dusty in here."

"I'll say. We should suggest investing in a Swiffer." Sheen looked around, then waved at Libby. "Hey babe, check it out! I got an alien freak to sign me, and it only cost me five bucks!"

He lifted up his shirt, revealing the words 'stupid humans will buy anything' scrawled across his bare chest. "Pretty cool, huh? I can't read what it says, but I hope it's good, 'cause this stuff's permanent!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. With Sheen and Carl's arrival, the tension dissipated, and Aurora's fire flickered and winked out.

"It's a good thing you two showed up when you did," huffed Aurora, "or I might have had to show these losers a few other tricks of mine. But since you're here…"

Sheen scratched his head. "Wait a minute…was your hand just on fire?"

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Can we discuss this on the ship?"

"I second that," said Jimmy. "There's a couple things we need to talk about."

Cindy threw him a nervous glance as the group plodded past the aliens and up the ramp-way into the _Desperado_. The door clamped shut with a hiss, and as soon as the outside world was barricaded, Aurora peeled off her silver mask and tossed it to the floor. The kids quickly swarmed around her.

Libby was first to speak. "Girl, how did you do that? That was…"

"…unbelievable!" completed Cindy. "I've never anyone so terrified in my life!"

Carl shifted his weight forward, balancing on the tips of his toes. "Can you show us again?"

"I'm more interested in how the suit functions, and how you acquired it," said Jimmy. "Why didn't you inform us of this ability before?"

"I figured it was on a need-to-know basis," replied Aurora with a sideways glance.

"Need to know?" rasped Sheen. "You're a walking firecracker! Of _course_ we need to know!"

Cindy folded her arms. "Sheen's right, for once. Start explaining."

"All right, all right, hold your horses." Aurora indicated the silver tubing that crisscrossed her body like strands of spider's web. "As you can see, my suit contains a complex network of organic links that tap into my central nervous system. The links supply the suit with energy and allow me to control it with my thoughts and emotions. That little demonstration I just gave didn't even scratch the surface of its capabilities…it's designed to be an advanced weapon."

"Did you build it?" asked Jimmy.

"Not exactly. I sort of...stole it."

"From whom?"

"…YOU, Jimmy. Well, your alternate self at any rate. He designed it for his own use, but luckily I got my hands on it before he got a chance to finalize it."

Cindy looked confused. "When did this happen?"

"It was when you were his prisoner, wasn't it?" asked Libby softly.

Aurora turned away. "Yes."

April looked sharply at Libby, and Cindy's eyes grew wide.

"You were his PRISONER? When? How?"

"It's a long story, and since it doesn't concern you, it's pointless to explain. I will say, though, that I ended up with this suit and a very good understanding of his stronghold's inner workings. I'm considered the expert on his operations thanks to my time there."

The kids exchanged glances.

"But that's all in the past. Right now, I've got a supply of new clothes for everyone, plus a few other surprises. I'll get you set up with some changing rooms, and we'll rendezvous in the cockpit in ten minutes."

* * *

Hope you liked the chapter! More coming soon!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	16. Alternative

Chapter illustration (you know the drill...): acaciathorn .deviant art(dotcom)/art/Alternative-77467625

That's supposed to be Cindy, by the way -fail-

* * *

**Chapter 16: Alternative**

Ten minutes later, the newly dressed Cindy and Libby arrived in the cockpit, where Aurora and April were waiting for them. The autopilot was switched on, and the ship hummed as it floated through the void. April bared her fangs in a wide-toothed grin when she caught sight of the girls.

"Great outfits, you two! Excellent radiation control, and they're very himp!"

"It's "hip," April," corrected Aurora. "And nobody uses that term anymore."

"Whatever."

Libby twirled, admiring the way the light reflected off the blended gold, scarlet, and rosy hues of her suit, while Cindy ran her hands over the holographic strips on her arms.

"I couldn't have picked a better one myself, Libs. Nice eye for style."

"Well, you know what they say: if you want to defeat a crazed evil dictator, you have to look your best."

"Truth, sister," said Cindy, before glaring toward the door. "OK, seriously, _what_ is taking the boys so long?"

Aurora twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "Oh…they must be having some trouble getting Carl into his new outfit."

She gave a low, rippling laugh, and Libby stifled a giggle of her own.

"What?" demanded Cindy. "What is so funny?"

Just then, the cockpit doors slid open, and Goddard scampered through. The girls awaited the boys' entrance at full attention, but nobody appeared.

"Aww, what's the matter, gents?" asked Aurora. "Afraid to give us a little turn on the catwalk?"

All four of the girls laughed, and a bashful looking Jimmy entered the room.

He scratched his arm in embarrassment. "Well, what do you think?"

April appraised him thoughtfully. "Turn around once so we can see it."

Jimmy gave a half turn, trying his best not to play it up, but without much success. The deep blue fabric ignited his eyes into two blue embers, and when he moved his arms, light reflected off the metal cuffs and glinted over his admirers.

"Wow," murmured Cindy, dazzled. "Neutron, you look really…amazing…"

Libby, Aurora, and April all swiveled to stare at her, and she stopped in mid-sentence.

"...amazing…amazingly ridiculous! It's too bad they wasted such a nice outfit on you!"

Jimmy looked crestfallen.

"Ugh!" groaned Libby. "Cindy…!"

"What?"

"You know, you just make a bigger fool out of yourself every time you do this. Just _say_ it for once!"

"What? Just say _what_? There's nothing to say!"

Libby tapped a finger against her lips. "I seem to recall a term that would work nicely…does the word "hunkmuffin" ring a bell?"

"Libby!"

"Hunkmuffin?" echoed Sheen's voice from the hallway. "That must be my cue! Forget you Carl, I'm going in there!"

Sheen leaped heroically into the center of the room, thrusting out his chest to show off the Ultralord decal on the front of his orange suit.

"Behold, weak and trembling subjects (and sweet Libby) it is I, the almighty Ultralord! Behold my awesome power and cower before me!"

Five blanks stares followed.

Libby laid an understanding hand on his shoulder. "You've been sniffin' the magic markers again, haven't ya Sheen."

"Wait, what? How did you –"

Cindy ignored the sideshow. "Where the heck is Carl?"

"Carl isn't here right now," came a voice from somewhere in the hallway. "Please leave a message after the beep. BEEP!"

"Come on, Carl," pleaded Jimmy. "The sooner we get this whole thing over with, the sooner we can have a serious discussion. I need to talk to Aurora about something important. Now _please_ come out. I promise I won't laugh."

Shuffling sounds drifted into the cockpit, followed by the clinking of metal chains. Carl plodded into the room dejectedly, dressed head to toe in black. Chains and paperclips hung from his arms, his legs, and his waist, and a spiked collar bulged around his pudgy neck. His knee-high metal tipped boots made a clunking noise every time he took a step, and a horned skull grinned menacingly on the chest of the garment. Aurora slammed her hand down on a button on the control panel, and all at once heavy metal music filled the cockpit. April fell over Aurora in a fit of laughter.

"Wow," said Cindy, shifting her weight to one hip. "Goth has never gone so wrong."

Carl's gaze fell to the floor. "You think I look stupid…"

"What are you talking about, dude? That outfit is the best! You look just like Darkman-Dong from Ultralord meets Godzilla: the special Japanese edition. All you need now is the subtitles!"

Aurora did her best to look serious, but barely managed to pull it off. "You look great, Carl," she croaked, her voice tight with restrained laughter. "That outfit brings out the best in you."

"That's right," agreed April. "Aurora bought this outfit especially to give you confidence. This suit will frighten away any enemy you encounter. I am sure! You look stunning!"

April's speech was much more convincing, and Carl's whole face lit up in response.

"Really? You like it! Yay!"

He gave a little ballerina twirl, and it looked so odd juxtaposed with his outfit that it sent April into another laughing fit. Aurora's smile faded into a scowl, and she tossed a box to Jimmy.

"Here, this is for you. I hope you're happy, 'cause it didn't come cheap."

Jimmy's eyes lit up. "The Full Spectrum Chemical Analysis Kit!"

"I knew you'd put up a big fuss if I didn't get it for you, so here it is. If you don't mind my asking, just what do you need it for?"

"Actually," said Jimmy, "that's what I want to talk to you about. I've been doing a lot of thinking, both before and while I was fixing the _Desperado_, and I've come to a conclusion."

Aurora turned to April. "Uh-oh, he's been thinking."

April nodded. "And he's come to a conclusion."

"This is serious!" Jimmy gritted his teeth, irritated by their mockery. "How we decide to act now could change the outcome of all our lives!"

Cindy suddenly felt the air rush from her lungs, and she stepped forward next to him. "Listen to what he says." The words poured from her mouth before she knew what she was saying. "Even if it sounds crazy at first…"

Jimmy was so shocked by her uncharacteristic support that he momentarily forgot his train of thought. Cindy didn't meet his gaze, but instead took a deep breath and looked at Aurora.

"Will you hear him out?"

"Well if he's convinced _you,_ then it must be worth hearing. Go ahead, I'm all ears."

Jimmy stepped into the center of the room, and his focus alternated between Aurora and Cindy as he began his argument.

"I believe we are taking the wrong approach to this conflict. We are headed toward nothing but loss if we try to plan a large-scale attack on my alternate self. One or all of us may be seriously injured or even die in the conflict. And selfish motivations aside, I don't think killing DJ is the only option. What if…what if there was an alternative solution?"

Aurora said nothing, so he continued.

"I asked you to buy me the Chemical Analysis Kit for a specific reason. With its equipment, I will be able to identify the ingredients that I would need for an antidote…an antidote that would counteract the effects of the Megalomanium."

April's eyes bugged out in astonishment, and she slumped back into her seat with the implication of his words. Aurora did not move. After a minute she spoke, and her voice trembled with each word.

"We could…_save_ him? "

"Effectively, yes," confirmed Jimmy. "Without the Megalomanium controlling his mind, he will revert to his former personality."

"Oh happy day," said Cindy sarcastically, "so he'll be a pompous goody-goody again?"

"Something like that. Of course, there will be no way to predict the long-term effects of the Megalomanium. The antidote could make him very ill or even send him into a coma. Not to mention the emotional duress it would cause…could you imagine living every day with the knowledge that you were solely responsible for the pain and suffering of so many? I know it would tear me up inside."

Libby joined Cindy where she stood. "I think it's worth a shot. Whatta 'bout the rest of you?"

"Jim," piped Carl, "if we do this, we won't have to do any fighting? We can just give it to him like medicine and he'll be better?"

"It won't be that easy. First we have to make the antidote, which could take me quite a while. Then, we have to find a way to get it to him. Chances are it won't be easy to sneak into his base."

Cindy put a thoughtful finger to her lips. "Maybe if we…"

April cut her off. "Now hold on just a second! We have not yet agreed upon any of this. The Gorlock High Council and its allies have worked for years to build up the forces necessary for this war. Scores of people, some of whom are _very_ powerful, seek revenge on the Dictator. What are we to tell all of them? That a younger version of the Dictator told us to spare his life? Angry people cannot be so easily persuaded to give up their hatred. No, it is too late for such a course of action. Far too late."

"But your plan is going to get everyone killed!"

"Besides," added Libby, "maybe DJ could somehow make up for all the bad things he's done once he's cured!"

"You do not understand the complexity of our situation, young one," snapped April. "And since when do you show such unconditional support for your rival, Cindy?"

"I just happen to agree with him this time!"

"You're all crazy." Aurora spoke in a low voice, peering out threateningly from under her bangs. "You expect me to let him off so easily? After all the things he's done? He deserves what's coming to him! He deserves to die!"

She jumped up and, to everyone's surprise, grabbed Cindy's arm and twisted it behind her back. Cindy yelped in pain, but then locked eyes with her future self in defiance. The girls were mirrors, their faces only inches apart.

"How could you possibly agree with him?" snarled Aurora. "You know what he's done! How he's treated us!"

"Look at you. Attacking yourself."

Aurora's stunned expression transformed into rage, and she twisted Cindy's arm harder. The girl cried out in pain.

"Listen to me," gasped Cindy. "If Neutron can't make an antidote, we'll be no worse off than we were before. Just give him a chance!"

Libby laid a hand on the pilot's shoulder. It tensed at the touch. "Will killin' him really bring you peace, Aurora?"

Aurora's face crumpled into an expression of such misery that they others were forced to look away. She slumped down on her chair and covered her eyes.

Her words were barely audible. "We'll do it."

"We will?" blurted April.

"I can't believe I'm saying it either, but I guess their involvement was inevitable from the moment we found them. Besides, who better to fight Neutron than…well, Neutron? Fighting fire with fire…"

"Fire has a way of burning things down, Aurora," retorted the alien. "I think you are letting your personal feelings cloud your judgment."

"I'm tired of this life, April. Infamy's fun and all, but I'm ready to try something else. We'll call the Council and our allies to a meeting on Planet Gorlock to make definite plans. In the meantime, I want everyone to leave me the hell alone."

She wrenched herself from the chair and stalked out of the room. Cindy released her tension in a shaky breath, and Jimmy's shoulders sagged in relief.

"I can't believe we actually convinced her. We did it. _You_ did it, Cindy."

Cindy didn't hear him; she was too busy studying the scratches Aurora had left on her arm. "It's funny," she said in a small voice. "All of these marks, and I've got nobody to blame for it but myself."

Nobody knew quite how to respond.

"Well," sighed April at last, "I suppose you want to start work on the antidote now. I will get you set up near the main reactor. Just try not to explode anything next to the generators, all right?"

Jimmy stole a curious glance back at Cindy as April led him and Goddard out of the room. She didn't return it, but merely looked listlessly at the floor.

Libby patted her shoulder. "I'm proud of you, girl. I realize that wasn't easy."

"I'll tell you what I realize," cut in Sheen. "That chick has a grip of iron! Look at those marks…freakish!"

"_You're_ freakish, Ultradork," shot back Cindy. "Even Goth-boy over there is less of a freak than you are."

Carl gave another ballerina jump. "Thank you!"

"Say," began Cindy, "I have a thought. Why don't you two go bother someone else for a while? Go find April, or see if Jimmy has work for you to do. Maybe you can help him with the antidote or something."

"Somehow 'help' doesn't seem like the right word," said Libby wryly. "More like 'get in the way', or 'totally bungle'..."

"At least they won't be getting in _our_ way," retorted Cindy. "Now bug off, both of you."

Carl opened his mouth to protest. "But…"

"But nothing! Get going!"

Muttering, the boys stalked off after April and Jimmy. Cindy turned to her friend.

"There's something I want to do," she said, a new conviction in her voice. "I think we should go see what's inside Aurora's room."

* * *

There's more coming soon!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	17. Obsession

Hey everyone! Sorry about the HUGE holdup!

_Illustration _(you know the drill): _acaciathorn .dev iant art(dotcom)/art/Stockholm-s-Syndrome-88215597_

* * *

Libby gaped. "Say what? You outta your mind, girl? You saw how mad she got just now. Imagine if she caught us in her room!"

"Pfft!" Cindy waved away her friend's concern. "She won't catch us."

"Cind…"

"Oh, come off it Libby!"

Cindy flipped her hair and headed off down the corridor toward Aurora's room. Libby scrambled after, her protests falling on deaf ears.

"I think that if ya stopped for a minute to consider, you'd realize that messin' around in another person's business isn't always a good idea. Especially when that person is _Aurora_!"

"She messed with _me_ first, OK? I'm not backing down!"

The two of them reached the door to Aurora's bedroom, and a mechanical voice spoke.

"Identify yourself."

"It's me, Vox. Let me in."

"Voice match unverified. Access denied."

"What do you mean, voice match unverified?"

"Voice match unverified. Access denied."

"Ugh, what the heck!"

Libby sighed. "Try lowerin' your voice a bit. It's higher-pitched than Aurora's. And put some grump into it. She always sounds like she hates the thing."

Cindy tucked in her chin and scowled. "Open up, you useless heap of circuitry, or I'll bash the door in with my bare hands!"

"Voice match confirmed. Welcome back, Aurora."

There was a clicking sound as the latch unlocked, and the door swung open.

Cindy smiled triumphantly. "Now we're getting somewhere…"

"I don't know, Cind. I like diggin' up dirt as much as the next girl, but did you ever stop to think that you might not LIKE what you find in here?"

The girls tiptoed into the darkened room, and Libby felt around on the wall for a light switch.

"You're not going to get anywhere by doing that, Libby," said Cindy in a superior tone. "This whole rig uses voice recognition. Lights, you fugly wreck!"

The overhead lamp flickered to life, illuminating the contents of the drab and sparsely-decorated chamber. A bed, some curtains, and a desk comprised the entirety of the furnishings.

Cindy examined the blue-gray bedspread with distaste. "Wow, I sure have lost my sense of style."

She glanced around at the gray interior until she caught sight of a poster on the far wall. She ventured over for a closer look and let out a gasp. "Libby, look! I'm on a wanted poster! How cool is that?"

Libby peered over from across the room. "You're on a _what?"_

Cindy admired the striking picture of Aurora on one side of the poster, green light wheeling round her in a firestorm. On the left was a message written in several different languages.

Cindy read the words aloud. "'Wanted Dead or Alive, for high crimes across the galaxy. Use caution, as subject is considered armed and highly dangerous. Reward to be paid upon delivery.' Wow, imagine…my face on a poster?"

Libby crossed her arms and snorted. "'High crimes' doesn't sound like anything to be proud of to me."

"I'm sure Aurora didn't do anything wrong. It's probably just propaganda...I wouldn't put it past Neutron to pull a stunt like this."

"Whatever you say."

Before Cindy could argue the matter further, Libby let out a low whistle. "Uh-oh. Cindy, you'd better come see this."

"What is it now?"

"I was wonderin' what Aurora could possibly be doin' with curtains in her room when there wasn't a window. Look behind it…"

Libby threw aside the curtain, revealing a huge bulletin board plastered with photographs. Star maps, layout drawings, ship plans, weapon sketches…some half ripped, stained, and many with unidentifiable symbols written all over them. But overshadowing the whole display was something that left both girls breathless. It was a log: a line of countless photographs winding its way across the whole board. Each photograph was marked with a date, a location, and a comment. The pictures were all of Jimmy…every single one.

"Wow, honey," breathed Libby. "This is one sick obsession."

Cindy paled. "Aurora is just...really meticulous, that's all."

"More like 'fixated'. This is like a storyboard for everything he's done for the past ten years. There must be hundreds of pictures here…Jeez girl, I sure hope you ain't hidin' some stash of Jimmy love photos in your room back home."

Cindy looked away rapidly. "As if! And who says these are love photos? It's probably a catalog of events or something."

"True. I guess havin' this sort of thing would make sense when your goal in life is to destroy one person."

"One person?" she echoed.

Cindy reached up and gingerly pulled down a picture from the top of the board. In the image, Jimmy was maybe two or three years older than their current age. He was regarding the viewer with cool indifference, his eyes glinting in the light of the camera flash. Cindy shivered and sat on the bed, only to jump back up again.

"What in blazes did I just sit on?"

The source of her discomfort turned out to be another photograph. This one was a class picture from 5th grade, tattered and dog-eared from years of being handled.

"I can't believe she still has this... I remember the day we took it. It was before that whole debacle with the shrink ray...remember that? Everyone was making fun of Jimmy for being short, and I told him to stand up for himself and 'be a man'."

She gave a short little laugh, and then stared off into the distance. Libby laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You OK?"

"Ya. It's just…I feel like I'm understanding some things for the first time."

"What do you mean?"

"Things about Aurora. How she must be feeling."

"Oh yeah?"

Cindy nodded somberly. "She can't get away. The war with DJ is just a constant, agonizing reminder of everything and everyone she's lost. I bet being around us is the worst. Imagine looking back on your old life, remembering how wonderful it was, and knowing that you took it for granted and could never get it back?"

"Ya," sighed Libby. "I guess I never realized how great we have it. All we have to worry about is school and our crazy adventures with the boys. I'm sure when we grow up, we'll look back and think 'wow, wish I could relive that'."

"Poor Aurora, she never got to finish living it the first time around. And she never got to work past her problems…the ones Jimmy and I have."

Libby grinned nastily. "I see. So you're referring to each other as 'Jimmy and I' now? Are you officially an item then?"

"NO! I'm saying that _Aurora_ still feels connected to him, despite all he's done."

Libby looked less than convinced. "Uh-huh…"

"It's like a constant tug-of war. Could you imagine every day, waking up and knowing that the person you secretly cared about was the very same who wanted to watch you suffer and die, and that the whole thing was your fault?"

Libby shook her head. "No."

"Libby, all their lives were ruined because of me…because I was too pig-headed to just man up and _deal._ I was the one who sprayed Megalomanium in his eyes. I was the one who turned him into a monster."

April's voice cut through the silence following this remark. "I guess it just goes to show...We can never foresee the impact of our choices, can we?"

The girls whipped around to see the alien woman leaning against the door frame.

"April!" gasped Cindy. "It's not what you think! We were just…"

April waved away her protests. "It is all right. I understand. If I were you, Cindy, I would probably be doing the exact same thing. It must be difficult, seeing yourselves this way. May I come in?"

"I guess."

April joined them on the bed. "Please forgive Aurora for her behavior earlier. She has been through more than you know." April's glance fell upon the bulletin board behind them, and her face grew solemn. "Ah, I see you have discovered 'the wall'…Aurora has kept a sort of living record of everything that has happened. She has been able to use it to successfully trace the Dictator's behavior patterns. She knows more about him than anyone else. Maybe this is her way of coping...still, I think it hurts her more than it helps."

Cindy turned to face the older woman. "April, what happened to Aurora when DJ took her prisoner?"

"All I know is that she was gone for three weeks. We all thought she was dead…and when she reappeared, she certainly looked like it. I know he must have done something awful to her, but the topic is strictly off limits." April shook her head. "I wonder what will happen once he is given the antidote and returns to normal. I think it might have been better if we had allowed her to get her revenge. She deserves to finally have some peace in her life. The way she is now, she is trapped in a prison, walking the world all alone without hope for any kind of a future. Aurora is my closest friend, and I do not want to see her like this any longer."

"But I think we can still stop all of this," said Cindy earnestly. "I think she'll come around…because I feel like I finally am."

There was a noise behind them at the door, and they all whirled around. Jimmy staggered in.

"Aurora, the door was open so I…wait a minute. Cindy? Libby? April? What are you guys doing in here?"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Cindy yanked the curtain shut over the picture-covered bulletin board. He gave her a quizzical look.

"Uhh...what's behind the curtain?"

"Nothing you need to be concerned about!" she snapped. "What do you want?"

"I've finished the chemical analysis, and it's very important that I talk to Aurora straight away!"

April sprung up. "In that case, let's get to the cockpit. I will raise Aurora on the comm. system."

They straightened up the blankets so Aurora wouldn't suspect intruders, then headed out. April pushed a button on her watch communicator and spoke into it.

"Aurora, come in."

"Ya? What?"

"Meet us on the bridge. Jimmy has finished his chemical analysis and needs to share the results."

"Already? Jeez. All right, I'll meet you there."

* * *

Stay tuned for chapter 18!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	18. Zero Gravity

Sorry about the hiatus everyone! It's been very difficult to update lately.

Anyway, there's a chapter illustration that goes along with this one (just remove the spaces and substitute the . and com): acaciathorn .devia ntart(dotcom)/art/Zero-Gravity-196172791

* * *

**Chapter 18: Zero Gravity**

April and the kids charged through the cockpit doors, only to find it empty. Jimmy gave in almost immediately to impatience. He paced up and down the length of the room, muttering calculations under his breath.

"What's the rush, Neutron?"

"Huh? Oh…it's nothing. Pacing just helps me think."

Libby frowned. "Jimmy, how come Carl and Sheen aren't here? They were supposed to go find you awhile ago."

"Beats me. I haven't seen them."

"Carl and Sheen are missing? Hold me while I weep," said Cindy sarcastically.

The doors slid open and Aurora strode into the room. Her expression invited them to mess with her if they dared.

She leered down at Jimmy."What have you found? Do you have the chemical formula for the antidote yet?"

"Yes…well, sort of. I have a list of the ingredients I'll need, and many of them are readily accessible on the ship or can be easily produced by the food synthesizer. Unfortunately, there's a bit of a problem."

"Cut to the chase, Neutron," snapped Aurora. "I'm not in the mood for riddles."

"I'm missing one critical ingredient. You see, when a person is exposed to Megalomanium, it does more than just alter brain function. It supercharges other parts of the body as well, including the immune system. Ironically, one of the side effects of Megalomanium is that it renders its host impervious to most forms of infectious disease. I guess you could say that it drives the immune system mad with power too." He smiled widely and paused to scan their faces after this remark, apparently expecting some sort of reaction. When none came, he continued. "If we were to give DJ the antidote in its pure form, his immune system would recognize it as an invading body and destroy it before it could travel up the neural pathways into his brain."

Aurora stroked her chin. "Hmm, that is a problem. But I'm sure we can afford to buy whatever you need to finish the antidote. The resistance has extensive funds, and…"

Jimmy waved away her offers. "No, no. Money's not the issue. I need something that will immediately allow the antidote to bypass his immune system. Unfortunately, this means I will have to obtain a specific enzyme. Back when I was developing the Megalomanium - shortly before Libby's birthday party in fact – I was interested in the side effect and spent a few days tinkering with it, trying to see if the immunity could be altered. Just for kicks, I randomly chose a pathogen – a species of fungus called _Cryptococcus neoformans _– and rewrote the Megalomanium's chemical code so it would no longer be immune to an enzyme contained in the fungus."

Libby massaged her temples. "This is gettin' a little too complicated for my tastes."

Cindy crossed her arms. "I'm just shocked at what he does during his spare time."

"At any rate, I never got around to fixing the immunity problem because after the incident at Libby's party, I realized that Megalomanium was too dangerous to be kept around."

"Gee, ya think?"

Jimmy didn't rise to Cindy's bait. "The bottom line is this: my alternate self was exposed to a version of the Megalomanium that was engineered to be susceptible to _Crypococcus neoformans. _In fact, it's probably the only thing that his immune system wouldn't be able to fight off. Therefore, the only way we can deliver the antidote successfully is if we "piggy-back" it on the _neoformans_. No fungus, no antidote. Make sense?"

Aurora was barely listening. "Let's just go find the fungus and get it over with. Where to?"

Jimmy peered up at her meekly. "That's just the thing. This fungus only exists in one place as far as I know…and that one place is on Earth. We'll have to go back to Earth."

A spark of fear alighted in Aurora's eyes. "Absolutely not."

"What do you mean, 'absolutely not'?" protested Jimmy. "We HAVE to get this enzyme! There's no other option!"

"I'm NOT going back there. I can't. After ten years…"

"Jimmy is right this time, Aurora," said April gently. "You must face this trial if you want to have a future."

Aurora looked from April to Jimmy in desperation. "But I _can't_…"

Cindy stepped in. "Shut up! You hear me? _Shut Up_!" Her anger seemed to make her taller, and she fearlessly stared Aurora down. "Don't give me any of this 'I can't' business. You listen to me... we're going to go to Earth and we're gonna find the stupid fungus so we can make the antidote and get this all over with! Now quit your pathetic whining! I wanna see _movement_!" She punctuated the sentence by slapping her fist into her palm.

Aurora seemed taken aback for a moment, then to everyone's surprise, nodded complacently and took her place in the pilot's seat.

"I'm setting the hyper thrusts to maximum," she narrated, punching various controls. "After I calculate our trajectory, we'll be on our way. I suggest you hold on…the hyper thrust can be a bit jarring. Maybe you should all…"

Before Aurora could get in another word, a light began flashing on the ceiling.

April looked up in alarm. "Oh no…that is the warning signal for the water release valve! Somebody has tampered with the coolant system!"

Aurora's eyes came to life again. "Darn it all! Carl and Sheen probably got into the water supply room. You'd better go stop them before they flood the ship."

In response, an earsplitting siren began to wail.

"Too late!" moaned April, and dashed from the cockpit.

Aurora turned her attention back to the control panel. She activated the hyper drive, and the ship seemed to freeze in time as a crackling field of energy surrounded it.

"Well," said Jimmy, "at least we'll be able to refill the water tank once we reach Earth. Aurora, do you think we can stop in Retroville once we get there? There's some stuff I'd like to retrieve from my lab."

"Uh…I'd be more concerned about holding on right about now if I were you…"

Cindy frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The ship lurched forward with such force that the kids were sent crashing against the back wall. The sudden thrust pinned Jimmy to the surface as Cindy and then Libby plowed into him.

Aurora pushed the shift into a higher gear. "Yeeeehaaaawww!"

They rocketed forward, and space and time swirled together like water going down a drain. The kids lifted off the floor and began floating in midair.

Libby looked back and forth frantically. "What…What's goin' on?"

"Aurora, this isn't funny!" shouted Jimmy. "Engage the artificial hyper-gravity!"

"Why? It's more fun this way. Besides…just think. Somewhere, Carl and Sheen are drifting around and have no idea what's going on! Serves them right for messing with my coolant system!" She gave a rippling laugh.

"Hey Neutron, what's up with this?" asked Cindy. "We don't float when you use the hyper thrusts in your junky tin rocket!"

"My rocket isn't junky!…and it's kind of complicated."

She raised an eyebrow. "Try me."

"Well, when a physical object such as this ship is traveling through hyperspace, it exists outside of spacetime. Because of this, people on board aren't affected by normal gravity…since after all, gravity is merely the warping of space and time. Normally I'd engage a special kind of artificial gravity, but Aurora seems to have her own ideas about doing things."

He glared in her direction, and Aurora returned it with a smile. She floated up into midair, two glittering fireballs spinning around each hand.

"Zero gravity is a great place to practice combat skills."

She closed her eyes and brought her hands together. Waves of energy rippled up and down her arms as she twisted the energy bolt around itself. She exhaled deeply, then pulled her hands apart, revealing green fire molded into the shape of an atom.

Jimmy's eyes widened. "Incredible! How did you do that?"

She took hold of the fire. "I can make it do whatever I want. I can make it angry" — the fire surged in brightness and whirled around her in a frenzied, roaring tornado — "and I can make it calm…" Aurora sank to the floor, the light rippling gently over her. She sighed, and it winked out.

She looked into the distance. "You know, Neutron has the same suit as I do. Only it's a darker color. And his fire is blue…"

"You mean…DJ has the same abilities you do? I thought you stole the suit from him so he wouldn't be able to use the its powers!"

"I did. But this suit was just a prototype…his is even more powerful."

"Well isn't that just great!"

Aurora didn't answer, but instead glided back down into the pilot's seat. Moments later they fell out of hyperspace, gravity re-engaged, and the kids crashed down onto the floor. Jimmy pulled himself up and gazed out the portal. Ahead, a familiar blue planet twinkled invitingly.

He breathed in. "Earth!"

"Never thought I'd be so glad to see it…" said Cindy, as Libby clasped her hands in delight.

"Earth! We're home!"

"Ya," said Aurora flatly. "Home." She spoke into her watch communicator. "April, we'll be arriving shortly. I suggest that you get down here before…"

April's angry voice echoed back from the communicator. "I am already here!"

She burst in through the cockpit doors, sopping wet. Carl and Sheen, looking shamed and embarrassed, stood in front of her, dripping water from head to toe. A trail of puddles wound its way into the hallway behind them.

April pushed Carl forward. "I found _this one_ gorging himself on our food supplies in the main storage room. You should see the mess he made! There is food all over everything!"

"I'm sorry…I was just so hungry and…and…oh, I'm such a terrible person!"

She pushed Sheen forward next. "And I found _this one_ in the showers! He pulled the emergency release valve on the water tank and flooded the entire room! It is a wonder he did not drown!"

Libby frowned. "Sheen, what could you have possibly been doin' in there?"

"Uh…prospecting?"

April pointed an accusing finger at Aurora. "And thanks to _your_ anti-gravity maneuver, I became trapped in midair in the showers along with these two! I do not appreciate your methods of amusement, Aurora!"

The pilot tried to hide her smile. "I'm sorry, April. I forgot that you might end up getting stuck alongside the doofus brigade. Anyway, you'll be outside where you can air-dry in a couple of minutes. We're entering Earth's atmosphere – touchdown in Retroville in approximately T-minus 10 seconds."

* * *

Random useless fact: The international telephone dialing code for Antarctica is 672.

Wow, didn't that improve your life?

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	19. Ruins of a Forgotten Earth

Hope you like it.

Here's the chapter illustration (remove the spaces): i1 09 .ph otobu cket(dotcom)/albums/n76/Ivory23/earth. jpg

* * *

**Chapter 19: Ruins of a Forgotten Earth**

The clouds cleared below them, and the outlines of long-abandoned buildings thrust into the sky. The _Desperado_ sank past them and alighted on a patch of dry ground in the middle of what used to be the town park.

Aurora switched off the engines. "Let's get this over with."

Jimmy called for Goddard, and April led the way out of the ship. The breeze smelled of springtime, and Sheen and Carl threw themselves onto the earth.

"Land! Sweet Land!"

"I've missed you so much!"

Sheen kissed the ground. "My one true love! Never shall I part with you again! Oh how I…eck…ach…ugh! Phhht! I swallowed a dirt clod!"

He hacked on the mouthful, and the others took in their surroundings without comment as the grass rippled in the wind.

"It feels so…empty," said Cindy.

"And quiet," whispered Libby. "It hurts to listen."

A yellow butterfly floated by on a current of warm air, and Aurora shivered. "Well, here we are. Among Earth's forgotten ruins…was the trip here worthwhile?"

"It will be once we get to my lab and I collect a sample of the _Cryptococcus neoformans_. Can we get going please?"

Aurora motioned for him to lead the way, and he opened the rusted gate and exited the park. The trees were all in bloom and birdsong was on the air, but beneath their calls was a chilling silence.

"Look ahead at the outlet shops…" he pointed.

The travelers walked into town in a speechless procession. Cars, some broken and overturned, lied scattered about in the road. The outlet stores, once bustling areas of human activity, had already begun to succumb to nature. Plants sprouted from the sidewalk cracks, and the doors to the shops creaked open and shut in the wind. Jimmy and the others passed by the House of Pants, a crooked advertisement for low prices still clinging to life in the window. Startled by their approach, a family of raccoons scuttled under a nearby café table, where an abandoned chessboard, the pieces locked forever in mid-game, sat waiting for its players.

"It's like everyone just disappeared in the middle of what they were doing," said Cindy.

"That's because they did. The Nanobots deleted everyone without warning…people had no time to react. They were there one minute, and simply gone the next."

April pointed to a large building coming up on their left. "Aurora, is that your local educational facility?"

The kids froze in their tracks, for less than a hundred feet in front of them was Lindbergh Elementary school. The statue out in front had collapsed and was hidden beneath a carpet of fallen leaves; dirt and windblown litter strewed the walkway. The playground was in complete disrepair. Most of the equipment lay broken and rusted, except for a single swing that swayed in the breeze and one teeter totter that creaked up and down, as if still ridden by the ghosts of long-dead children.

Sheen tried to crack a smile. "You know, I always thought it would be wicked cool to see our school trashed, but this isn't what I had in mind."

"This place gives me the creeps," shuddered Cindy.

"I can still picture everyone here…it's so weird." Libby pointed as she spoke. "Look…over there's where Britney and the other girls used to jump rope. And Nick and his posse are sittin' on the steps…and there's Butch, beatin' up poor Oleander for the fifth time."

Cindy nodded. "I know what you mean. Even though everyone's gone, I can still feel their presence somehow."

Aurora's sharp intake of air startled everyone, and they swung round to see her hastily backing away.

"We need to go. I need to get out of here now so…so…let's go to Neutron's lab. Then I want to leave. I want to leave for good."

The kids resisted the urge to go check out the Candy Bar, and they made their way to Jimmy's street instead. Memories hung like cobwebs; each familiar sight called to mind long-ago friendships and rivalries. They came to a stop in the street between Jimmy and Cindy's houses, and Aurora stared up at what remained of her home, the once cheerful pink paint peeled and the shutters hanging askew.

Aurora wrapped her arms around herself. "There's something so eerie about coming back to a place you once lived. You're one of your own memories."

Jimmy fidgeted uncomfortably. "If it's OK, I'm going to pay a visit to my lab now and see what's left. I'll be back up soon…"

He turned and dashed into his backyard, then disappeared into his clubhouse. Aurora climbed the steps up to her house. She laid her hand on the doorknob, and it swung open.

"Funny," she murmured, "it's not locked…"

She set one foot inside, and a dust cloud rose in plumes from the floorboards. She took another step, hesitated, and then quickly backed out.

"What is the matter?" asked April.

" I…"

Glass smashed somewhere behind them, and Aurora whisked around. Sheen had thrown a rock through the front window of Carl's house.

"_Sheeeeeeeeeeen_!" cried Carl, holding his head. "You broke my window! My dad's gonna be so mad!…"

"Chillax, dude! Your dad está muerto, remember? Besides, I've always wanted to do that! Ha! I think I'll do it again!" He pitched a rock at the other window, and it shattered. "Check me out, babes! I'm a hot-blooded Mexican vandal…and nobody cares!"

"Cut it out, Sheen!" protested Carl. "I might step on a piece of the glass and cut my foot!"

"Sheen, you shouldn't go breakin' other people's stuff," said Libby. "Go throw rocks through your own windows."

"Why don't you just throw a rock at your head and do us all a favor?" huffed Cindy.

"Sheen!" hissed April, advancing toward him. "How dare you destroy someone else's property? Show some respect to Carl's departed family!"

The voice that responded was strained almost to the point of being unrecognizable. "No. He's right, April. Houses are nothing without the people who used to live in them."

April looked over and found Aurora staring up at her bedroom window.

"They're monuments to no one," she shouted, voice rising, "and I won't let my house stand another day!

She jumped backward and hurled an energy bolt at her house…then another, then another, then another. She flung them at the roof, the walls, the door. Her blasts created cinder-rimmed holes wherever they hit, and chunks of debris flew out into the rising smoke. The roof collapsed into a pile of ashes, and with one spinning kick Aurora crumbled the front wall. She leaped forward and rapid-fired on any furniture still standing inside.

"DAMN IT ALL! I…won't…suffer…any…longer!"

A huge orb of energy coalesced between her hands, and with a final cry she sent it hurtling at the house. When the dust cleared, only a pile of wooden splinters and a heap of ashes remained.

Aurora gasped for breath. "I'll destroy them all!"

She swung round and flung another bolt, this time at Jimmy's house. April squared herself in front of Aurora and diverted the blast with her arm.

"Enough. You need to stop now."

The two women stood locked in mid-motion, Aurora half stooped over, her breathing coming in gasps. She looked up at the alien woman through terrified, angry eyes, then lunged forward and embraced her.

"Oh April!"

April smoothed her ruffled hair. "Shhh, do not worry. We will leave soon enough."

* * *

Aurora should take up a career in demolitions.

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	20. Survivors

And with this chappie, some plot bunnies come hopping in...Enjoy!

Illustration (remove spaces, substitute . and com): sam-ely-ember . dev iant art(dotcom)/art/TOSOT-Confrontation-140752328

* * *

**Chapter 20: Survivors**

Aurora buried her face against her friend's shoulder, and the kids stared on in a state of shock. Jimmy reappeared, holding a vial full of a speckled gray substance.

"What's all the commotion about? I heard some explosions and…Holy Heisenberg! What happened to your house?"

Aurora knelt down and sifted the remains through her fingers, and April quickly stepped in.

"Did you obtain the fungus?"

"Oh…yes. Yes I did. Turns out there was quite a bit of it growing in the sewers near my lab. It's a pretty hardy species, but I'm still worried that it won't survive long enough for me to use it in the antidote, so I'm going to have Goddard preserve a portion of the sample. Here boy!"

Goddard bounded over to his master, and Jimmy rubbed his head. "Good dog! I'll need you to access your liquid hydrogen tank and freeze-dry this sample for me, OK?"

"Bark…grr bark bark!"

Jimmy placed the beaker on the ground, and Goddard's back unlatched and a spray can appeared. He blasted the fungus with a burst of liquid Nitrogen, and it froze solid. He then grabbed the beaker with a pair of tongs and stowed it away in his back compartment.

"One more thing, Goddard," said Jimmy. "Run a quick analysis scan to make sure the fungus is still alive…sometimes the freeze-drying process can be a bit faulty. And don't bother to do a specific search for the fungi's DNA structure, because I don't know if it's in your database. Just run all your DNA scanner systems and hopefully something will come up besides our life signatures."

A scanner appeared on Goddard's chest, and he began the search. When it finished loading, it bleeped loudly, and 'life signs detected' flashed across the screen, which transformed into a map of Retroville. A little red dot began to flash for each member of the group. A yellow dot appeared inside Goddard, and Jimmy heaved a relieved sigh.

"Good, good, the fungus survived the freeze-drying process. Now if we…"

Goddard's screen beeped again, and the words 'life signs detected' appeared for a second time. However, instead of centering on Retroville, it zoomed out to a map of North America, and then to a 3-D image of the Earth. The globe rotated on the screen and thirty or so red dots began to flash in central Asia. Goddard started barking like crazy.

"What the…? Goddard, what did you just do?"

"Bark bark bark bark!"

"Calm down boy, that's absolutely impossible. There's no way that reading is correct."

Cindy leaned over for a closer look. "Reading? What reading?"

Jimmy pointed to Goddard's screen. "Goddard's scan is indicating human life signs in central Asia, but there's NO way…"

Aurora appeared behind them. "WHAT? What did you say?" She pushed the others aside and grabbed Jimmy by the shoulder. "Show me."

Jimmy pointed, and Aurora bent over and squinted at the image.

"Your scan is WRONG," she said emphatically. "_Everyone_ was deleted by the Nanobots."

"I have no doubts about that. Don't worry Aurora, I'm sure it's a mistake. Goddard, re-run the scan."

"Eow, eow…"

He cleared the screen and repeated the scan, but the thirty red dots continued to flicker.

Jimmy clenched his fists in frustration. "Ugh, I don't understand! Maybe if I…wait a minute. Goddard, zoom in on those life signs. That spot on the map looks familiar."

He panned in closer, and the name of the location flashed on the screen. "Shangri Llama!" he gasped. "That's incredible…unthinkable! It looks like the Nanobots did miss some people after all. The monks of Shangri Llama are alive!"

"You've got to be kidding…" said Cindy.

"You mean Master Hong and the rest are still around?" Sheen grinned wildly. "In that case, I think it's time for 'the Chosen One' to make a house call!"

Aurora swallowed a few times before speaking. "Neutron, are you absolutely sure about this? I mean, how could anyone have escaped? The annihilation was absolute…"

"This is indeed a remarkable discovery," agreed April. "We need speak to these individuals immediately. Perhaps we can learn the secret of their survival."

Sheen assumed a vaguely martial-arts-like position. "I can already answer that question: mad Kung Fu skills, that's how!" He judo-chopped Carl on the shoulder.

"Ow Sheen! I bruise easily!"

Sheen stuck his foot behind his head, then whirled around and bowed to Libby.

"Will you be MY Chosen One?"

Libby rolled her eyes, and Jimmy scratched his chin in thought.

"I don't think Kung Fu skills are enough, Sheen," he said after a moment. "Hand-to-hand combat is useless against the Nanobots. I think we should fly over to Asia and investigate."

Aurora's expression of uneasiness instantly changed to one of anger. "Are you all crazy? We don't have time for this! We need to finish that antidote, remember? Besides, what can the monks teach us that we don't already know? By now I'm a black belt in multiple martial arts, and I've mastered Tai Chi and deep meditation. What are they gonna show us…the proper technique for drinking tea? Or maybe they can instruct us in the ways of peace and understanding while the war rages on around us and people die!"

"I understand your objection," continued Jimmy patiently, "but it's not like we'll be wasting too much time. The _Desperado_ can get us there in a matter of seconds. Believe me, I know it's hard for you to be here, but we could learn a lot from this trip, and I..."

"Fine!" she yelled explosively. "Jeez! We'll go see the lousy monks if you really want to. Just get off my back!"

Everyone retreated a step from the force of her anger, and Aurora began fiddling with her watch communicator. "I just activated the ship's remote autopilot. It'll fly overhead and beam us aboard any second now."

Sheen pumped his fist into the air. "Sweet! Does it hurt?"

"Not really."

"Aw, man…"

An instant later, the ship materialized out of the cloud line. With a flash of light and sudden lurch, they all found themselves back inside the cockpit.

Sheen's gaze jerked around the room. "What the…whoa! We're back in the ship already? Cool! Television rocks!"

"It's teleportation, Sheen."

"No, no, I meant what I said..."

Aurora punched some coordinates into the autopilot, and the ship rocketed upward into space. It hung in a suspended orbit as the earth rotated below.

"Look!" Libby pointed out the portal. "There's Asia comin' up over the horizon. Asia…you know, that'd make a pretty jive name. I think if I ever have a daughter…"

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Libby, focus please."

The ship started its descent, and Jimmy began making adjustments to the autopilot.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" said Aurora.

"I think we should land a little outside of town. A big ship like this might frighten the monks."

"Might frighten the monks," she muttered with a sneer. "…neh nah neh neh…"

The _Desperado_ hovered for a moment before setting down on a grassy plain just outside of Shangri Llama. There was a whoosh of air as the interior decompressed, and the group made their way out of the ship. Ahead, the silhouettes of the temples rose up into the cloudless sky.

"Sure has been awhile…" said Aurora.

Sheen scratched his arm. "Not really. I was just here fighting Yoo Yee a couple of months ago…"

"I meant for me, idiot."

Libby peered ahead. "Should we try to go in?..."

* * *

More soon!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	21. Shangri Llama

Long chapter this time...hope you all enjoy!

Author's note: The name "Chen-Yu" means "Tremendous Universe", and "Xiu Mei" means "Plum Blossom".

* * *

**Chapter 21: Shangri Llama**

April cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice. "Greetings," she shouted, "is anyone there? Show yourselves! We wish to speak with you!"

There was no reply, and Aurora looked back at the spaceship. "There's probably nobody here, so we should go back to the…"

A distant voice interrupted her. "Ahh, welcome travelers. Forgive my momentary nonattendance, for I was meditating. Do you come seeking peace and enlightenment?"

"Sure," yelled Sheen, "why not? That and some egg rolls would be great!"

Aurora sent him a killer look.

"Certainly, certainly," replied the voice, with a soft laugh. "Please, come inside, my children."

The front gate swung open, and a squat, pudgy monk dressed all in brown stepped into the doorway. He removed his hood and gave a low bow as the travelers walked past.

"I am Chen-Yu, the new leader of the brotherhood here at Shangri Llama. You'll be able to meet with the other monks shortly, but since you arrived during our daily meditation hour, they must finish before they can receive visitors. I'm sure you understand."

"Cool!" exclaimed Sheen, jumping out. "This place hasn't changed a bit! Well, except maybe for those bushes, and these rocks, that big fancy building way over there…"

Chen-Yu gawked at him for a solid thirty seconds. When he spoke at last, his voice was quick with excitement. "Could it be…the Chosen One? Is it really you, all-mighty? Quick, put your foot behind your head!"

Sheen grimaced, then shoved his foot behind his neck.

Chen-Yu gasped. "By all that is sacred, it _is_ you! You've returned to us! You look a bit younger than I would have expected after all these years, but…oh! I must tell the others!" He pulled out a pair of finger cymbals from his pocket and bashed them together. "Attention everyone! Come out! Come see! The Chosen One has returned to us! The prophecies have at long last been fulfilled!"

Libby snorted. "I thought you said they were meditatin'…"

"Nonsense! Who needs meditation at a time like this? Everyone, come quickly!"

One by one, the brothers of Shangri Llama began filing out of the largest temple, and a throng of female monks followed them from an adjoining building. They muttered excitedly as Chen-Yu threw himself at Sheen's feet.

"Oh great one! After ten long years you have finally returned to take your rightful place. We were beginning to worry that you would not come back, but please accept our humble apologies for doubting you!"

"Oy vey…here we go…" said Aurora.

A woman monk with pretty hazel eyes stepped forward, a plum blossom fastened on the corner of her brown hood.

"Greetings Chosen One, allow me to express the honor I feel at meeting you and your companions. I am Xiu Mei, but please, call me Mei for short." She turned to Chen-Yu. "Should we not bring them to more comfortable accommodations? Perhaps the Great House would be a suitable location? After all, I believe there is a certain someone there who has been eagerly awaiting another certain someone's return!"

She covered a smile, and Chen-Yu frowned, wrinkling his bald brow.

"But what about the age difference? Our plans can hardly be implemented now!"

Mei considered. "Yes, it is a dilemma. But I don't think we should worry about it. After all, my sister married a man who was 15 years her elder!"

She covered a giggle this time, and Chen-Yu adjusted the rope belt that rested atop his ample paunch.

"It does not work in reverse. Besides, isn't that why you joined us, Sister Xiu Mei? To escape an arranged marriage to an older man?"

At this, Mei fell silent, and Jimmy and the others looked around in confusion.

"Care to tell us what on EARTH you're talking about?" he demanded. "Where I come from, it's considered rude to leave your guests standing around clueless while you have cryptic discussions!"

Cindy joined in. "What's this about 'age differences', and what's with the girl squad? Last time we were here you had, what, one female monk?"

Libby shrugged. "Not that we've got any problem with extra chicks…it's 'bout time, if you ask me."

Mei opened her mouth to answer, but stopped short when Aurora interrupted. "We didn't come here to socialize or to talk about monk gender ratios. We have some important questions for you."

April stepped forward. "Firstly, how did you survive the onslaught a decade ago? The nanobots deleted everyone on this planet, so how is it that you managed to escape?"

"How many people are living here?"

"And how does your settlement function after years of isolation?"

"Do you know what's been going on in the galaxy these past ten years?" added Jimmy.

Sheen punctuated the line of questioning with an angry stomp. "And where the heck are my eggrolls?"

"Peace, my friends," smiled Chen-Yu. "All your questions will be answered shortly, but in the meantime, have patience. Shall we sit and enjoy a fresh cup of tea together?"

Aurora grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close to her face. "Patience isn't a word I'm familiar with, tubby. We need to know the answers NOW, and then we need to leave. We can't put the war on hold while you indulge yourself in deluded prattling!"

Chen-Yu shook his head sadly. "You have much to learn, my young friend. You are full of anger and vengeance, and you will never be happy until you learn softness."

Aurora stared him down. "Softness? Ugh! What do you know, old man? Have you flown a starship? Have you set foot on hundreds of alien worlds? Have you seen what I've seen? You're just a ridiculous stereotype!"

"Very well," sighed the monk. "Go on, show me what your grand travels have taught you. Go ahead, my child, attempt to strike me. I can see that you want to."

She pursed her lips together, then swung at him. Almost instantaneously, Chen-Yu blocked her punch. In an impressive show of acrobatics, she rolled backward, turned, and kicked, but he anticipated her movement and caught her leg. He pushed her off balance, and she fell backward onto the hard cobblestone walkway.

"You have nothing but hatred in your heart, and a true master does not fight with emotion, but with focus and resolve. You must not rely on your feelings when you fight. They will betray you."

Aurora crossed her arms and looked away, and Chen-Yu shook his head again.

"Well, I suppose it is no use to argue over the matter. At any rate, I believe that I am not the best person to answer your questions. Mei will take you to the main house, and there you will learn what you need to know."

He bowed and motioned for Mei to walk past. She returned the bow, then beckoned for the guests to follow her.

"Wow," said Carl, "they sure like to bow, don't they?"

Sheen nodded agreement. "Must be the national sport…"

The other women fell in behind them, and they proceeded toward an elaborately painted pagoda at the far end of the courtyard. Chinese lanterns hung from the corners of the roof, and bamboo wind chimes produced a tinkling melody.

Libby looked up at the house in admiration. "I don't remember this buildin'…when did you add it? Those tiers and colored shingles are _legit_. If I could have my pick of any house in the whole town, I'd go for this one…"

Mei giggled. "How funny that you should say that!"

"Why?"

Several of the women let out a tittering laugh as they proceeded down the stone walkway that led to the elaborate porch. The visitors drank in the beauty all around them to the soft strains of the wind chimes. Libby stopped to examine a butterfly drinking nectar from the chrysanthemum bushes that lined the walkway. She picked a flower and breathed in its fragrance.

"Mmm, I love this place! Smell those flowers!"

As they neared the porch, they heard the sound of rapid footsteps from within. The double doors burst open and a young woman darted through. She was swathed in layers of silken veils that glittered in the sunlight, and a ruby bindi gleamed between her eyebrows. She caught herself on the cedar railing, and her braided black hair swung forward with her movement. Libby looked up and, with a gasp, dropped the flower in her hand. There, less than ten feet in front of her, glittering like a golden idol, stood her future self.

"Mei-girl," panted the vision before them, "what's goin' on? What's all the commotion?"

"Oh wow…" Jimmy's mouth dropped open. "It can't be…"

Sheen's eyes practically bugged out of his head. "Dude, check her OUT! Sweet mother of Ultralord! Libby, your future self's a mega-babe!" He rushed forward and got down on one knee. "Let's get married right now, whaddya say?"

Libby stamped her foot and pointed to the ground beside her. "Sheen, stop proposin' and get your womanizin' butt back here!"

"S…Sheen?" Future Libby stumbled backward. "How'd you…? Why're you so…?"

She looked around at each of the kids, open-mouthed. A moment later she caught Aurora's gaze, and the two women froze. The wind took Aurora's hair and blew it in a wild arc around her face. High in her scented palace, Future Libby slumped forward against the balustrade, eyes strained with disbelief. The women stood transfixed, as if trapped in that moment: Libby swathed in silk, leaning against the entrance to her golden temple, and Aurora, standing straight, cold, and gleaming in her metallic blue spacesuit.

"C…C…Cindy?" Future Libby took two cautious steps forward, then plunged ahead at a full run. "CINDY!"

She rushed across the gravel, diamond droplets streaming down her cheeks. She dove at Aurora and enveloped her in a crushing hug. Aurora stood like a soldier, stiff and emotionless, except for her trembling mouth. Future Libby pulled back and smiled, still holding both of Aurora's hands in hers.

"I thought you were dead! You have no idea how glad I am to see you! Cind? What's wrong?"

Aurora looked like she was about to be sick to her stomach. Her legs gave out beneath her, and she slumped into a half-crouching position.

"Libby…Libby."

"Ya?"

"You've…how long have you been here?"

"Ten years. How long have YOU not been in Retroville? How'd you get away?" She nodded at April. "How'd…whatsername get here? And who're these freaky little versions of us runnin' around?" She took one look at Carl and cringed. "And what is up with THAT? Since when did Carl go goth? That's just plain _wrong._"

Carl looked defeated. "Aww, you don't like it?"

"Well, I suppose the black _is_ kinda slimmin'…"

She turned her attention back to Aurora, who had by that time regained composure. Aurora straightened and stared down at her slightly shorter friend.

"My name's Aurora now…don't call me Cindy."

"Oh…OK…"

Aurora hesitated. "But…but I can still call you Libby, right?"

"You can call me whatever you want! I'm just happy to hear your voice again."

The two women kept right on staring, seemingly bedazzled by each other's presence.

Jimmy cleared his throat. "Not to interrupt your 'best friends' reunion or anything, but shouldn't we be getting a move on? You said it yourself: the sooner we get our questions answered, the sooner we can get back to business."

"Oh…yeah." stammered Aurora. "Of course. Go ahead…"

"Ya, please. Who the heck are you kids?"

"It's kind of a long story," said Jimmy, "but I'll try to explain as briefly as possible. The five of us come from an alternate universe, We were transported here during a teleportation accident several days ago. We met Aurora and April after arriving, and we've teamed up with them to try to win the war currently being waged against my future self, who has become an evil psycho dictator in case you weren't aware."

Future Libby rubbed her forehead. "He's still at it, huh? I thought maybe that Megalomanium stuff would've worn off by now. Still, it's nice to know. I've had no idea what's been goin' on, since we don't exactly get a 'Galactic Enquirer' around here. We have no outside news comin' in." She planted her hands on her hips and threw her younger self a look. "Do ya have any idea what it's like to live with a bunch of monks for ten years? Every day they try to find new ways to bore me to death. Their music selection is whack…I thought my head would explode from all the chantin' the first year I was here. But I think I've made myself useful since then."

Future Libby seemed to suddenly become aware of the female monks who stood nearby, and she wrinkled her brow at them. "Hey girls, what'd I say to you 'bout wearin' those frocks when you're around me?"

"We're sorry, your grace!"

The women peeled off their brown robes, revealing vibrant dresses beneath. They twinkled with jewelry and exhibited a designer's eye in fashion accessorizing.

"We don't want the brothers seeing us this way!" whispered Mei nervously. "It might upset them!"

"Pfft. They just don't wanna admit that you're prettier than they are."

The monks giggled, and Future Libby gestured at the clothing, proudly displaying her handiwork. "Pretty jive, huh? While the monks sat around meditatin' all the time, I learned to make clothes, shoes, and even jewelry – and I'm a one-woman orchestra with all the instruments I can play. I redecorated a bit too, if you wanna look around."

Cindy crossed her arms and peered up at the older woman. "Not that this isn't _fascinating_, but some stuff needs explaining. Like how you got here for starters, and why everyone seems to treat you like a queen. What'd you do to make yourself so popular?"

Future Libby played with a lock of her hair. "Oh, it isn't really _me_. It's just 'cause of that prophecy stuff the monks are always rantin' about."

"Prophecy?" repeated Carl.

She brushed off the question. "Ya…you guys know most of it. You know, about 'the Chosen One'. Hey, I'm kinda curious about some things too. Cindy, girl, how'd you get out of Retroville? Where've you been for the past ten years?"

"It's Aurora, and I promise I'll give you the full details soon. But first I want your side of the story. Tell us how you got here…when you got here…what your life's been like since…everything. Please. I really need to know. You don't know how long I've wondered what happened to you."

"Sure, if that's what you want. Anythin' you want. You are the guest, after all. After you…"

She opened the door and gave a graceful Asian bow. Cindy raised an eyebrow at her as they walked through.

"Since when do YOU bow?"

Future Libby laughed. "Oh, I'm doin' it again. Sorry. After livin' here for so long, I think some of their habits washed off on me. I never thought I'd become a tea-drinkin', meditating monk-ette, but then again I never expected to see a mini-me runnin' around either. Life's funny like that."

They entered into a spacious room. Sunlight streamed in through the sheer white curtains, which fluttered in the breeze. The room smelled of incense and fresh rain mingled with the scent of chrysanthemums.

"You want some tea?" offered Future Libby. "I was just about to have some myself."

She led them to a low-lying table covered in a silken tablecloth. A porcelain teakettle steamed in the center, surrounded by various rice and vegetable dishes. Future Libby set out eight tiny cups and bowls, then knelt down on the cushion at the foot of the table. She motioned for everyone to join her. Aurora took a seat at the opposite end of the table; April, Sheen and Carl sat on the left side, and Libby, Cindy, and Jimmy on the right.

Sheen rocked back and forth on his cushion. "We're eating on the floor! How awesome is this?"

Future Libby covered a little smile, then passed the teapot around. They all helped themselves, except for April, who wrinkled her nose at the brown liquid before passing it on.

Future Libby set the teapot back in the center. "Would anybody like some rice? I've got stir-fried veggies too…"

Aurora waved the offer away. "Sure, fine, whatever. Just pass it all out and we'll take what we want. And Libby…there's no need for the manners. We're on a bit of a deadline."

"Sorry…I'm used to eatin' with the monks. Politeness is everything 'round here." She folded a cloth napkin in her lap, then looked up at Aurora. "OK, I guess you want me to answer your questions now, right? What do you wanna know?"

"I'll tell you what I want to know. Can I get a picture of you so I can show Santa what I want for Christmas?"

The others shouted in unison. "_Sheeeeeen!"_

Future Libby leaned over and smiled, her golden earrings jingling. "You don't know how much I've missed your nerdy little comments."

She tweaked his nose, and they all stared at Future Libby in disbelief as she took a sip from her teacup.

"In that case," said Sheen, "let's get married straight away! What do you say?"

Future Libby stifled a laugh. "Sorry, 'fraid I can't. I'm already promised."

"Say what?" gawked Libby. "You're 'promised'? As in…betrothed? To who?"

"To "whom"…" corrected Carl.

Sheen grabbed him by the shirt collar. "Ahhh! Quiet Carl! My woman's about to marry some other guy! How can you worry about grammar at a time like this?"

"She's not your woman!" shouted Libby. "She's ten years older than you, for cryin' out loud!"

"Will you two chill out?" said Cindy. "Jeez. Think about it for a minute. How can she be marrying someone else? Besides the monks, there are no guys left!"

Future Libby seemed to be enjoying their confusion. "Well, there are at least three I can think of…"

"That's right," said Jimmy suddenly. "Alternate Sheen is still out there somewhere." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you implying what I think you're implying?"

Cindy turned to Future Libby. "What? Are you out of your mind? You actually plan to _marry_ that guy? Look at him!"

She gestured at Sheen, who had shoved a pair of chopsticks up his nose and was now doing his best to imitate a walrus.

Aurora curled her lip in disgust. "How can you plan to do anything with him if he's not here? I've been all over the galaxy and I haven't seen heads or tails of him. I think he's gone, Libby."

Future Libby looked down. "That's what I'm afraid of too. He's supposed to come back, but…maybe I better start over. I think I've done a better job of confusin' you than anythin' else. After I give you the full spiel, I think you'll understand a bit better."

"I look forward to listening to your angelic voice, my sweet!" purred Sheen.

Libby whispered in Cindy's ear. "All this flirtin', I don't know whether to be insulted or flattered…"

"Just ignore him, Libs," said Cindy, turning up her nose. "He doesn't deserve you anyway."

"I guess I better go back to the beginning, huh?" Future Libby paused, then looked at the kids. "Do they know what happened with the Megalomanium and all?"

Aurora nodded.

"In that case, I'll start a little after the beginning…I'll start with the last time I ever saw Retroville."

* * *

"Your highness, the peasants have no bread to eat!"  
"Then let them eat cliffhangers."

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	22. Live for Me

Hey everyone! Time to end that cliffhanger at last!

Incidentally, there's an (old) ILLUSTRATION for this chappie: www .idreamofjimmy(dotcom)/Fanart/MaraLiveforMe .jpg (remove the spaces)...and yes it says "chapter 18" - the chappie numbers are different here on fanfiction . net.

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**Chapter 22: Live for Me**

Future Libby emptied her teacup, then poured herself some more. Her expression grew sad as she stared down at her reflection in the liquid.

"I remember like it was yesterday…I remember sitting in my backyard lookin' up at the sky, and wondering how somethin' so awful could've happened. It was such a beautiful day, except there was nobody left to see it. It was like some kind of nightmare; Jimmy and those crazy nanobots of his had deleted everyone. The whole world was gone…except the four of us. You, me, Sheen, and Carl." She shared her look of sorrow with Aurora. "Barely a day has gone by when I haven't thought about that last afternoon in Retroville, when I found you standin' at the end of our street. Just standin' there while the wind blew your hair everywhere. You didn't say anything. Didn't cry. Didn't get angry. Just stood there, with no reaction at all. I can't tell you how awful it was. I remembered somethin' Jimmy had said to you before the nanobots had destroyed everything. I remember…he pulled you close, and he told you that he was going to make you suffer. Suffer so much that you wished you had never been born. And that was exactly what was happenin'. I thought my heart would break..."

Aurora tightened her grip around her teacup.

Future Libby continued. "On that last day, before the end, he walked up to you where you were standin', among the ruins of what used to be our city. And he stared at you. Just stared. He didn't say anything, and neither did you. Somehow, the way he looked at you was more terrifyin' than if he had reached out and hit you. I've never seen anythin' like it. His eyes were holes in his skull. And afterward, Jimmy came after us. He took out a ray gun of some kind and told me that he'd delete us too if I didn't get in his rocket…I'm so sorry Aurora. I never wanted to leave you there all alone!"

"It wasn't your fault," said Aurora softly.

"The last thing I saw was my house shrinkin' into the distance…then the town…and finally it all slipped behind the clouds and I couldn't see anything anymore. Next thing I knew, Earth itself was gone, and then we were all alone out in space, a little speck in a sea of stars…"

She gave a heavy sigh and tucked a stray braid behind her ear. Jimmy leaned forward, his eyebrows knitted together.

"I know it's no consolation, but I'd like to apologize for the actions of my alternate self. I'm so sorry that this had to happen to all of you."

Future Libby smiled slightly. "Thanks. Our Jimmy isn't like you anymore though – he's got no remorse. It was so scary livin' 'round him. For the next couple of months after we left Earth, he spent all his time putting together a war ship. He made me an' Sheen an' Carl help him…it was like livin' under a knife. I was always so afraid that if anythin' went wrong, he would do somethin' terrible to me. We were all scared to death. I don't think I would have been able to take it if it weren't for Sheen. He felt like my only friend in a world where everythin' could fall apart in a second."

Libby fiddled with her napkin as her future self continued.

"I spent a lot of my time worrying about you, Cind…I mean, Aurora. When I wasn't fitting bolts to weaponry or scrubbin' metal floors, I thought about you. I thought for sure that you were all alone back on Earth, frightened or sick or even starving to death. I decided that I needed to go back and help you, no matter what. I told Sheen my idea, and he agreed to help me."

She closed both eyes, then opened one with a smile as she looked over at Sheen.

"Y'know," she said, "for such a nerdy hyperactive guy, you really helped me get through some tough stuff. If it weren't for you, I don't think I'd even be alive right now. I know _you're_ not the same Sheen, but I never got the chance to thank him."

"How exactly did he help you get away?" asked Libby.

"Well, back when we were first buildin' the ship, Jimmy taught us how to use the teleporter in the main control room so we could send bombs aboard enemy ships. I figured that the machine could teleport people too, and that it might be able to send me back to Retroville if we could just get our hands on it. We planned for days, then waited until Jimmy was in his lab to sneak inside the control room. While I got myself strapped into the tele-pod, Sheen tried to figure out how to get the dang thing to send me back home. He was really somethin' that day…he risked his neck to help me." Future Libby covered her face with her hands, her breathing suddenly strained. "But before we could finish, everythin' went wrong. Jimmy walked in to find Sheen at the control panel. He looked him square in the eye and said, 'if you push that button, I'll make sure you live to regret every day of your long, painful, nightmare of a life. Send her, and I'll make you suffer so much that the whole galaxy will have to cover its ears to shut out the sound of your screams.' I was absolutely petrified. I ain't ever seen anything half as scary as Jimmy when he said that. Sheen was shakin' like a leaf, looking' back and forth between me an' Jim. Finally, he just shrugged and said 'Bye, Libs. Don't die. Live for me, 'K?' Then he pushed the button, and that was the last I ever saw of him."

Everyone was quiet as Future Libby wiped her eyes.

"Wow," Libby breathed the words. "Sheen really did that for you? He…traded his life for yours?"

Future Libby shook her head. "Oh…no. I don't think Jimmy killed him. He's not a murderer so much as he is a sadist. He likes people to go on livin' so they can continue to suffer. I'm just worried Jimmy marooned him on a desert planet somewhere or somethin'…it hurts me to think about it. I'll never be able to forgive myself for puttin' him in danger, but…but it wasn't like I had much choice. I had to save YOU, Aurora."

"And to think…I wasn't even on Earth anymore."

"Funny, isn't it? Fate can be so cruel."

"Fate? Give me a break. Life is merciless. That's all."

"But Miss Older Libby," frowned Carl, "I'm still confused…how did you get here?"

"Ya…" said Cindy, "if Sheen teleported you to Retroville, how did you end up in Shangri Llama?"

"By accident, actually. Sheen…being, well, Sheen…sent me to the wrong place. He entered incorrect coordinates, and so I got sent halfway 'round the world. Instead of poppin' out in Retroville, the next thing I knew I was smack dab in the middle of the Asian highlands. Ironically, his mistake saved me. Two days later, the monks found me wanderin' in the fields outside the monastery. They took me in…I owe a lot to them, you know. At first I lived in a little room in the back of the temple, but that changed soon enough. A couple of weeks after I got there, the monks started actin' all weird and watching me constantly, like they were waitin' for something to happen. It seriously freaked me out until they gave me the low down."

"What'd they tell you?" asked Aurora.

"Chen-Yu – the fat bald monk who likes bowing all the time – he said I was part of this crazy prophecy of theirs. Accordin' to the legend, the woman destined to be the Chosen One's bride would be found alone in the fields and come to live with the monks. I told them it was just a coincidence, but they seemed real stuck on the idea. They gave me all sorts of nice stuff, like this house, and told me to await the return of the Chosen One so he and I could get married and usher in a new era of peace. I didn't wanna tell them that Sheen probably _wouldn't_ be comin' back, because I was afraid they'd kick me out if they knew. Plus, they gave me such nice jewelry…"

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "I see…"

"So," shrugged Future Libby, "to make a long story short, I've been stuck here for ten years hung up and doted on like some kind of idol, with nothin' to do but try on wedding dresses and listen to the monks tell me about my future. Not exactly what I had planned for my life."

Aurora leaned forward. "Then come with us. Come away on my ship…you can get out of here! Make a real life for yourself!"

"Well, it's not like it's _all_ bad," explained Future Libby. "Actually, I like livin' here. It's just…I don't want to sit around in pretty clothes anymore. I wanna take action, to actually do somethin' to shape my future and to help the people I care about."

Aurora slammed her teacup down. "Then it's settled! When we leave tonight, you're coming with us!"

"All right, I'll go with you, Aurora, but not tonight. Tomorrow mornin', OK? I want to catch up with you first…and I'll need some time to explain things to the monks. They'll be pretty worried when I go."

"Who cares? They're just a bunch of…"

"Please, Aurora? It'd really put my mind at ease."

Aurora blinked, then nodded. All was silent for a moment except the clink of bowls against chopsticks. Future Libby set down her cup, then broke into a smile and pushed away from the table.

"All right!" she beamed. "Well, I dunno 'bout you, but I bet now would be a great time to take a walk in the gardens. It's almost sunset. Come on!" She grabbed Aurora by the hand and practically dragged her out the door.

Cindy set down her bowl. "Well, I suppose we might as well take the grand tour too."

"I'm down with that!" said Libby. "I wanna see all the stuff older me designed!"

Carl bent over, his stomach gurgling. "Guys…I think I need to use the bathroom."

"Aha!" shouted Sheen. "I knew that yellow mushy stuff you ate would be back to seek revenge!"

Cindy wrinkled her nose. "You know Carl, you don't have to announce every time you experience a bodily function. Jeez."

A woman monk dashed in from nowhere, panting heavily. "Young redheaded one, was the food not to your liking?" cried the woman. "I am infinitely sorry to have offended the Chosen One's friend! My name is Sun-hi…come, I will make you some tea and escort you to the bathhouse to remedy this egregious act!"

"Um…OK, a bath would be nice. But my mom usually sings to me when I have a bath…will you sing me a song?"

Sun-hi bowed. "If it is your wish! I would do anything for a friend of our beloved Chosen One!"

Carl clapped his hands in a ridiculous display of immaturity and then followed the monk into an adjoining room. April threw her head back and burst out laughing, fangs glinting like sharpened knives.

"You humans are ridiculous! You are more entertaining than a Gorlockan munkull in heat! HAHAHAHAHA!" She continued to laugh as she rose from the table and stomped through the doorway.

Sheen jumped up and thrust his index finger into the air. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go check out the view!"

"Mm-hmm," agreed Libby, "I feel like it's been an eternity since I've seen a sunset."

Sheen drew an hourglass shape in the air. "That's not the view I had in mind…"

"Ugh, SHEEN! Will you cut it out already?"

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Hey, not that this conversation isn't both stimulating _and_ enriching, but aren't we forgetting the main point?"

Sheen motioned for him to clarify. "Which is…"

"To go for a walk, moron!" said Cindy irritably.

"Oh yeah."

It was Cindy's turn to roll her eyes as they rose from the table and exited the building. Goddard jumped out from a cluster of bushes, knocking chrysanthemum petals into the air.

"There you are, boy," said Jimmy, stooping down to pet him. "I was wondering where you went."

Sheen snatched a petal from midair. "Hey, check it out! It's just like that song…you know, 'It's raining flowers'?"

"Uh, Sheen, the song is 'It's rainin' men'."

Sheen waggled his eyebrows. "That can be arranged…"

"Jeez," grumbled Cindy, "does this guy come with an off switch?"

Libby shook her head. " 'fraid not."

Jimmy pointed at two figures rapidly disappearing into the distance. "Hey, there they go! We should try to catch up. It's getting dark. Goddard, stay here boy."

* * *

Comments are appreciated!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	23. Meant Not to Be

Here comes 23! I'm not particularly fond of this chapter, but hey, what are you gonna do. There's an (ugly) illustration that accompanies it, and YES it says chapter 19. That's because the numbering system for the chappies was different when I made the pic.

To view the illustration, go here (remove the spaces, add . and com): i1 09 .p hoto bucket(dotcom)/albums/n76/Ivory23/gingkoleaves .jpg

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**Chapter 23: Meant Not to Be**

The kids followed the path out of the circle of temples and under a vine-covered archway, out into an endless garden. A sea of white chrysanthemums extended all around, their stems bending in the gentle breeze. The rustle of their petals mingled with the sound of the chirping finches that bathed in a nearby fountain. Little droplets cascaded from their feathers, glistening sapphire-like in the approaching twilight.

"Wow, this place is beautiful…" breathed Cindy. She tossed her hair, looking over her shoulder at Jimmy. "Wouldn't you agree, Neutron?"

"I'll say! Look at those _Bombycilla garrulus _in that tree over there! Simply stunning!"

She glared at him. "Typical…"

Jimmy didn't seem to notice her irritation as they walked down the gravel path into the growing darkness.

"Uh-oh, guys," said Libby. "Look."

Ahead, the path split into two smaller walkways, one lined with white stones, and the other with gray.

"I wonder which way Aurora an' me went?"

"I guess we'll have to split up," said Jimmy.

Libby shot Cindy a sly glance before crossing her arms. "That's fine with me, but I ain't lettin' Sheen out of my sight. If I do, he'll go makin' a fool out of himself. He and I'll take the white path."

"What? I don't want to go with Neutron!"

"Well I'm not exactly thrilled about it either!" shot back Jimmy.

"Will you two get it together? You seem to forget that your contant fightin' is what gets us into most of these messes in the first place! Now just suck up your pride for ten seconds and walk down the stupid path!"

Cindy and Jimmy blinked in surprise, then grouchily headed off together.

Libby planted her hands on her hips. "Finally! I've had about enough o' the two of them for today."

Sheen had sprung off the path and was busy wading through the flowers. "Man, you could play a killer game of hide and seek in this place! Uh…hey Libs, who are you talking to?"

"Oh, I'm just thinkin' out loud. Let's go…it's getting really dark."

Sheen and Libby ventured further into the heart of the garden as Cindy and Jimmy followed their path through a grove of gingko trees. The fan-shaped leaves rustled in the night wind, but the sound was no louder than the flutter of wings. The crunching of their sneakers on the gravel was deafening by comparison.

"Jimmy?" said Cindy quietly.

"Ya? What?"

"Do you think we'll end up like them…like Aurora and DJ I mean?"

"Aurora and DJ? Where did that question come from?"

"Just answer it."

"Well, it's impossible to become _exactly_ like them, since I was never exposed to the Megalomanium, but otherwise I suppose anything's possible. Why?"

Cindy looked down, her blonde bangs spilling over her eyes. "Because I don't want it to turn out that way. I don't want to become her."

"Listen, Cindy, I sympathize, but if you're looking for reassurance, I'm afraid I can't offer any. The truth of the matter is, we're not always in control of the future."

"What if we could be? What if we can change it?"

"Look, I've been there, but you have to mess with the laws of physics and it just gets really messy..."

"No, I don't mean _literally_ change the future. I mean _affect_ the future. Look how much we've altered Aurora's life since we came here. If we hadn't shown up, she never would have come to Earth, and she never would have been reunited with Libby. You never would have thought up an antidote to the Megalomanium, and she would have killed DJ. How do you think that would have made her feel?"

"I don't know…happy I guess."

"You are so clueless, Neutron," she said with a sideways glance. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"Get what? It's pretty simple. She said herself that she wanted revenge."

"Pfft. Revenge is overrated."

"Are you going somewhere with this?"

She shot him a warning glance. "Hey! What is up with you? Can't we just have a conversation without it having to having to turn into something profound?"

"You're the one blabbering about the future, not me," he said testily. "If you'd just be quiet then we wouldn't have a problem."

"Jeez, how rude can you be?"

"You're one to talk….I don't think I've heard one nice thing come out of your mouth since I met you."

Cindy jerked to a halt. "See, there we go again, arguing! Don't we ever do anything else?"

He gazed spitefully over his shoulder. "You're the one who started it. You _always_ start it."

"Ya right! You've started it plenty of times!"

He whirled to face her, his breath like smoke in the chilled blackness. "What are you talking about? In case you're too stupid to remember, I'd like to point out that it was _your_ fault that everything went wrong in this universe in the first place. YOU were the one who sprayed the Megalomanium in his face! You're the one responsible!"

"WHAT?" she gasped. "_You_ were the one who invented the stuff, so it's your fault, not mine! Besides, your future self is the one who went psycho and killed everyone. He destroyed all our lives, not me!"

"You're so pathetic! Always blaming everyone else!"

She clawed at her hair in frustration. "UGGHHH, I can't even believe you! What is your _problem_?"

"What do you mean, MY problem? You're the one with the problem, Vortex!"

"Shut UP!"

"YOU shut up!"

"You…you…UGHHHH! I HATE YOU!" she shouted.

"Not as much as I hate you! I'll always hate you! I'll hate you till the day I die!"

Jimmy and Cindy faced off, bristling with rage. The air around them crackled with the intensity of their anger as the wind caressed the trees. Jimmy slowly relaxed, then slumped.

"I just don't _understand_ you, Vortex," he sighed, covering his eyes. "I've never been able to understand you."

"I think you understand me just fine, Neutron," she said, anger receding. "And I think you're upset for the same reason I am. Seeing ourselves grown up this way…it's awful, isn't it?"

He looked away. "Ya…it is."

There was a moment of silence, each absorbed in thought.

"It's so unfair," she said at last. "This is not how I wanted things to end up."

"I know. Neither did I."

"Will it ever stop, Jimmy?" she asked softly. "Will we ever do anything besides _this_?"

The two of them stared at each other from opposite sides of the path, and a dust cloud tumbled in the seemingly endless expanse between them. Jimmy's expression grew sad.

"I don't know, Cindy," he sighed. "Sometimes I think the whole world is against us. It's like somehow, we're meant _not_ to be…"

"But…"

Jimmy smiled sadly. "I know, and I'm sorry. Let's not talk about it now, though, OK? Come on, I don't think the path goes much further. We should start back."

Sadness wrinkled her brow. "Is it really hopeless then?"

Jimmy looked at her through blank eyes, then wrapped his arms around her - but no warmth welcomed her in his embrace, merely resignation and an aching loneliness.

"I'm sorry."

He turned and walked off down the path. She trailed a few feet behind him, her heart growing heavier with each step. But somewhere inside her, like a spark, another feeling grew. She cast him a fleeting glance.

"Possibility," she murmured to herself. "Now there's something that's _not_ overrated."

* * *

Sorry if this chapter wasn't up to par. I had a hard time making it work in paragraph format. Anyway, comments/critiques/spaz-attacks are welcomed!

P.S. _Bombycilla garrulus_ are Bohemian Waxwings.

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	24. Red Flower in an Ocean of White

Time for 24! There's an illustration accompanying this chapter, so check it out!

Go here: ww w .idreamofjimmy(dotcom)/Fanart/MaraRedFlower .jpg

* * *

**Chapter 24: Red Flower in an Ocean of White**

As Jimmy and Cindy dejectedly retraced their steps, Sheen and Libby were making their way past the rippling field of flowers.

"Check it out, babe! This has gotta be the biggest bouquet of flowers in the history of ever!" He whipped out a bundle of sloppily-arranged chrysanthemums.

"Just what are you plannin' to do with those?"

"I'm gonna give 'em to Carl…"

"But why? Isn't he allergic to flowers?"

"Shhh! That's the whole point!"

"You're one of a kind, Sheen," she grinned. "I don't think I'll ever understand that weird little mind of yours."

"That's OK," he shrugged. "I'll never understand you either. Women are too complicated for us simple-minded man creatures."

"You know that's right!"

Libby laughed as they continued on down the path. They neared a bend in the road, and Sheen dropped his bouquet and darted into a clump of flowers. He reappeared a moment later, holding a single red chrysanthemum.

"For you," he said, bowing. "A single red flower in an ocean of white."

She touched her hand to her chest. "Aww, that's so sweet! I can't believe you spotted that in the dark! I'm really…hey, what's that?" Libby pointed ahead to a tiny flicker. "It looks like a lantern…Sheen, come on!"

She grabbed his hand and they darted down the path, the light growing closer with each passing step. At the end of the trail, a plum blossom tree was shedding petals like pink snowflakes. Two figures occupied the bench beneath its protective arms, bathing in the glow of a single Chinese lantern. One of the figures lifted an arm, and the blue light glinted off her bracelets.

"Shh, slow down," whispered Libby. "It's Aurora and future me." She motioned for Sheen to follow her behind a boulder. "Let's try to get closer so we can hear what they're sayin'."

"Libby, why the sudden Jet Fusion spy routine? Shouldn't we just go say hola?"

"No! They'll never act natural if they know we're here. Come on, let's hide behind that funny lookin' tree."

They crept through the flowers until they came to a knobby pine about ten feet away from Aurora and Future Libby. Libby heard a noise behind her, but her scream was stifled when one clawed hand clamped over her mouth.

"Shh!" hissed April. "It is only me! Do not scream and give away our location."

"April? What are you doin' here?"

"I am observing. What are you doing?"

"Snooping," answered Sheen.

"We are not! We're observin' too!"

April looked down in amusement. "I see."

The three turned their attention to Aurora and Future Libby, who seemed to be very deep in conversation. Aurora's face was not visible from their position, but she was hunched forward, as if in pain.

"…can't do it Libby," came Aurora's voice through the night air. "I keep thinking…sooner or later it's gonna come to blows. How can I do it, Libs? How can I beat him? I can't beat him…"

"Then don't think of it like that. Think of it like you're saving him. Or think of it...like you're cleanin' up a mess. 'Cause girl, I know a mess when I seen one, and _boy_ am I lookin' at one now."

Aurora let out a tiny laugh. "Libby…I've…I'd forgotten what it felt like to have someone just _get _it. You might guzzle tea and bow like a loony, but you haven't changed a bit."

Back behind the knobby tree, April sighed. "She really is amazing…"

"Huh?" asked Libby.

"The older you. I have been watching for awhile now, and their conversation has left me stunned. Aurora has opened up more in this last hour than she has during the past ten years. Aurora would laugh at me and insult me for being weak if I were to engage in such a conversation, and yet…look how closely she is listening now." April gazed down sadly. "I cannot compete with this woman, who reminds Aurora of the pleasanter days here on Earth. Is that the price I must pay for her to be happy? Must I lose my closest friend?"

April looked back at the bench as if expecting an answer, but Aurora was no longer there. A bolt of green fire streaked past April, and with a startled yelp she turned a perfect back flip into the gnarled branches of the tree. Sheen and Libby dove out of the way, kicking up a pile of dry leaves in their wake.

"Who's there?" cried Aurora, blazing with flames. "Show yourself!"

April yelled down from the top of the tree. "It is only me! Stop shooting at everything that moves!"

"Ugh, April! How many times have I told you to stop sneaking around in the dark? It's just plain creepy!"

April hopped down. "I am sorry. Old habits die hard."

"Well, it's probably a good thing. If you hadn't come along we would have stayed up all night gabbing. Let's head back to the main house now, what do you say?"

"You are not angry at me for spying, then?" said April. "You do not intend to reject me in favor of someone better?"

Aurora looked bewildered. "What are you _talking_ about? Why would I do that? Now let's get a move on before it gets any later."

April broke into a smile, then fell into step beside her friend. The trio walked together, shoulder to shoulder, their steps falling in synch. Hair swinging, jewelry jingling, laughter on the air, the three of them chattered amongst themselves as they disappeared down the gravel path. For a moment, they looked like ordinary young women out on a stroll through the park, as if the last decade was nothing but a bad dream. As their voices faded into the distance, Libby pulled herself up and planted her hands on her hips.

"Would ya look at that."

Sheen spit out a clod of dirt. "Phht! Ptt! Ugh, twice in one day!"

"Aurora thinks she's so alone, but she's got two of the best friends a girl could wish for. Look at the three of them! Adorbs."

Sheen glanced at their retreating figures. "I'll say. I wonder which one of them would win in a tap-dancing contest?"

Libby face-palmed. "We're done here. Let's go."

Sheen and Libby walked back together through the moonlit gardens. When they arrived at the main house, Cindy and Jimmy were nowhere to be found. April crouched, half hidden in the shadows on one side of the porch, her breath like smoke in the cold. Her narrow eyes followed them as they walked past her to the doorway.

"Hey April. Where is everyone?"

"Libby has taken Aurora on a tour of the house, and Cindy has stalked off into another one of the buildings. I have not seen Jimmy. Carl is in the bathhouse…wait, no. Here he comes now."

Carl, accompanied by his monk escort, appeared from within a cloud of bathhouse steam. He clutched a cup of tea in his pudgy fingers, and his head-to-toe goth had been replaced with another look entirely. He was dressed in a long purple kimono embroidered with plum blossoms and swirling clouds.

Sheen's eyes practically bugged out of their sockets. "What the…? Paahhaaaahaha! Nice dress, Carl!"

"It's not a dress, it's a bathrobe!"

"Actually, you' both wrong," corrected Libby. "It's a Japanese kimono."

"Kimono, dress, same difference! It's purple, Carl! _Purple_!"

"So?" said Libby. "Ain't Ultralord purple?"

"Yeah, but Ultralord's clothes are a manly purple! That dress is definitely not manly!"

"_Manly purple_?" she repeated. "Do you even hear yourself?"

Future Libby and Aurora appeared in the doorway, and April bared her teeth in a grin. "Check it out, girls. Carl's new outfit is even better than the last one!"

All three of the women burst out into catty laughter, and Carl turned red in embarrassment.

"Stunning outfit, Carl!" said April. "This one makes you look even more fearsome than the last!"

They snickered some more, but Carl seemed to buy the ruse. "Really?"

Sheen covered the word with a cough. "Gullible!"

"Bless you, Sheen!"

As they cackled some more, Future Libby called out to the woman accompanying Carl.

"Sun-Hi! Would you do me a favor?"

"Certainly! What do you desire?"

"Tell Chen-Yu to call the others and meet us for a conference in the main temple, OK?"

"Yes my lady, at once!"

She took off at a full run to the largest temple, and a moment later the metallic sound of a gong shattered the nighttime silence.

"That's the summons gong," explained Future Libby. "It means we all gotta go meet up in the main temple."

"Uh, Libs, mind telling me why you just called in the cavalry?" grumbled Aurora. "Do we really need to sit around and gab with all these monks? I'd rather see more of the grounds with you."

"I need to tell them that I'm leavin'…plus, don't ya wanna find out how the monks survived the nanobots?"

"Ugh, fine."

Aurora and the others followed Future Libby to the largest temple. They pushed aside the silken draperies and proceeded into the main chamber, where Chen-Yu was waiting for them. Orange-scented incense was heavy on the air; flickering candles illuminated the room in alternating splashes of gold and black.

"Welcome, my children," said Chen-Yu. "Please, sit down."

One by one, the other monks arrived. They took their seats in a circle, in the center of which Chen-Yu placed a smallcandle. A closer look around the gathering revealed many familiar faces, all except Jimmy and Goddard's.

Chen-Yu spread his arms wide. "The meeting of the monks and the great Chosen One will now commence. We shall continue until the candle in the center of the circle burns out. When that time comes, we will return to our rooms for the night."

"Chen-Yu," said Future Libby, "before we start the whole 'Chosen One' bit, there's somethin' you should know. This Sheen here isn't the REAL Chosen One…he's…he's a divine messenger."

"A divine messenger?" Chen-Yu repeated. "What are you talking about, my dear? This is clearly the man we have awaited. He can put his foot behind his head. I have seen it myself!"

"What _are_ you talking about?" whispered Aurora harshly. "He's not a 'divine messenger'…"

"Shhh!" she whispered back. "I'm tryin' to explain it in terms the monks'll understand." She turned again and met their confused gazes. "I know he looks like him, but the REAL Chosen One is my age, and he's in trouble! This one's just a messenger. These people came here to tell me what's been goin' on…and now I need to leave with them."

There was a collective gasp among the monks.

"But my lady," stuttered Mei, "what will we do without you? Who will the Chosen One marry?"

"Surely you must be mistaken!" cried Sun-Hi. "You cannot really mean to leave us!"

Chen-Yu quieted them with a wave of his hand. "Silence, you two. Let her speak."

Future Libby took a deep breath. "I have to go with these people. I have to save Sheen. If I don't, he won't ever come back. Please! Let me go look for him! I can't sit around and wait anymore!"

"She's telling the truth," said Aurora. "Sheen really is missing. I've been all over the galaxy, and I haven't seen him. Please, let her come with us. We need her help in this war…we need her help to defeat the Dictator."

"Ah, so that's it," purred Chen-Yu. "You want her help in the war. Well let me assure you, our Libby is a peaceable young woman with no talents in the arts of destruction. Take your problems elsewhere! The monks of Shangri Llama are not interested in the troubles of the outside world!"

"How can you SAY that?" shouted Aurora, voice rising. "Do you have any idea the kind of suffering the Dictator has inflicted on this galaxy…on this planet? He is solely responsible for the destruction of the Earth! Do you know what that's been like for everyone? For Libby? For ME? How dare you decide the fates of so many people while you sit around all day in your comfy buildings and sip tea! You're disgusting!"

"That anger of yours is most disagreeable, young lady."

"You must find inner peace," offered one of the monks. "Only then will you be happy."

Aurora jumped up and burst into green fire. "UUUGHHHH! How DARE you lecture me like that, you pompous windbag! This isn't about happiness, it's about survival!"

Future Libby laid a hand on her friend. "Sit down, Aurora. I can handle this."

Aurora's legs folded beneath her. Her mouth settled into a resigned pout, little bits of flame still dancing around her shoulders.

"I'm goin', Chen-Yu," said Future Libby gently. "Please trust me. I know what I'm doin'. It's not about war, and it's not 'bout killin'…it's about settin' things right. I'm gonna save Sheen. I'm gonna save everyone."

The monks exchanged glances.

"Well, I cannot stop you," said Chen-Yu at last, looking back and forth at the faces of the two women. "And if all that you say is true, then I suppose that we will all be better off in the end. So go, fly off in that metal ship of yours. But please, come back to us as soon as you are finished. Return to us with the Chosen One by your side."

"I will do my best," Future Libby said, bowing her head. "I promise."

Sheen inched forward and tapped the candle in the center of the circle with his foot. It tipped over, and the flame winked out.

"Well, would you look at that!" he said. "So…since the candle's out, can we leave now?"

Carl nodded. "All this incense is irritating my asthma."

"All right," chuckled Chen-Yu, "if you really wish to go to bed, we can adjourn early."

"Before we do," interrupted Aurora, "I get to have _my_ question answered. How did you escape the nanobots all those years ago? _Everyone_ was hunted down. How did you survive?"

"Simple. We had placed ourselves into a deep state of meditation, so deep that our life signs were barely recognizable as being human. The nanobots never even detected our settlement. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there were other isolated rural populations that survived as well..."

This was news to Aurora, and she had to pause a moment to digest the information.

"Unless you have any other questions about the past," he finished, "I would like return to my quarters as well. That rash on my back is acting up again."

None of the monks seemed taken aback by this, but the visitors wrinkled their noses in reaction to such an unexpected and unsavory comment. Future Libby turned to Aurora and April.

"Come on girls, you can stay in my room tonight. We'll have a good ol' fashioned sleepover, just like old times!" She slipped an arm around Aurora. "I hope you came ready for a _serious_ 'truth or dare' session..."

"Don't you think we're a little old for silly sleepover games?" asked Aurora.

"What is 'truth or dare'?" inquired April. "Is it a battle ritual of some kind?"

"Heh, you could call it that! Come on sweetie, you've got a lot to learn."

Future Libby linked her arms through theirs and the three headed off toward the main house. She turned back and winked at the kids as the distance between them grew.

"You kids can sleep on mats in the living room. They're actually pretty comfy. I'm sure Sun-Hi would be happy to set them up for you."

"Yes my lady! At once!" Sun-Hi dashed away, and Libby let out a loud yawn.

"Well guys, I don't know 'bout you, but I'm about ready to pass out."

"Same here," said Cindy. "A good night's sleep would be nice for once."

Sun-hi's breathless, overly-enthusiastic voice rang out from inside the main house. "Your beds have been prepared! You may retire for the night whenever you wish, oh great ones!"

Cindy looked exasperated. "That woman doesn't let up, does she?"

"Total flunkey," agreed Libby.

Sheen, Carl, Libby, and Cindy returned to the main house to find the interior looking like a posh hotel, with sleeping mats made from the finest silk.

"Wow, Sun-Hi," admired Libby, "you sure know how to set up a room. You may be a flunkey, but you're an _awesome_ one!"

Sun-hi beamed with pleasure. "Thank you! I am happy to have served you!"

She waltzed out the door, and Sheen did a cannonball onto his cot. "Man, this is great! I want a Sun-Hi for my house! Then I'd never have to clean my room or make my bed again! She'd do it all!"

"Dream on, Sheen," said Libby. "You're not 'the Chosen One' back at your house."

Cindy leaned against the door frame, hair flipping in the wind as she peered out into the moonlight. Libby walked up beside her.

"Aren't you going to bed, girl? You must be bushed."

Cindy's manner was distracted. "Where do you think Neutron is? I haven't seen him since…well…"

"Since what?"

"We had a fight back in the garden, and I think he was pretty upset. He didn't even come to the meeting with the monks."

"Don't worry about it, Cind. I'm sure he's just workin' overtime on the antidote or somethin'. Come on, you need to sleep."

Cindy reluctantly crawled under the silken sheets of the farthest cot. Libby turned out the lantern, and the room vanished from sight. Cindy tossed and turned, then stopped, anchoring herself to the sensation of the bedding beneath her shoulder blades. As her vision adjusted, she turned her attention to the ornate carvings on the ceiling, watching as the patterns swam in feverish circles, dancing, mocking, taunting. She snapped her eyes shut, but even in the complete darkness of her own mind she could not escape the sight of him beneath those gingko trees.

* * *

Je te remercie!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	25. The Gift

To view the illustration, go here (remove the spaces, substitute . and com): ww w .idreamofjimmy(dotcom)/Fanart/MaraTuyen . jpg

* * *

**Chapter 25: The Gift**

Cindy sat bolt upright. Early morning light filtered through the curtains, and she blinked at it through sleep-blurred eyes. With a groan she fell back onto her mat.

"You awake too?" whispered Libby.

Cindy rubbed her head. "Ya. Between Carl snoring, Sheen talking in his sleep, and the three giggle-maniacs upstairs, I might as well have not gone to sleep at all."

The sound of muffled speech outside drew nearer, and Cindy flipped over and covered her head with her pillow.

Her voice came out somewhere between a whine and a groan. "No…Go away…"

April burst through the door and stomped into the room, generating an impressive amount of noise in the process.

"Time to wake up, everyone!" she shouted, clapping her hands. "Up! Up! Wake up!"

Cindy glared from under her pillow. "Do you have to be so _loud_?"

Sheen pulled himself up and wiped his eyes. His hair was sticking up even more than usual. "Is it morning alr– "

"Aurora wants to leave as soon as possible," April answered before he could finish his question. "Everyone else is already awake. We need to get moving. Somebody wake up Carl, then prepare for departure."

Libby yawned. "You heard her, Sheen. Wake up Carl."

Grumbling, Sheen rolled out of bed and stumbled over to Carl's cot. He immediately began to flap his wings and crow like a rooster, but Carl only snored louder.

"All right, buddy, you asked for it!"

Sheen backed up a few feet, then took a running jump. He sailed through the air and crash-landed onto Carl in a small explosion of pillows and blankets. The shocked boy's eyes snapped open, and he began to screech.

"AHHH! MOMMY! Help! Help! They got me again! They got me! They…."

"Chill out, mama's boy," said Sheen, climbing off. "It's just me."

"Sheeeeeeen!" Carl whined, throwing off the covers. "That wasn't funny!"

Cindy finally pulled the pillow off her head. "Hey April…where's Neutron?"

"He is already awake. I believe he is back on the _Desperado_ preparing to embark."

"Oh…"

As April turned to leave, a large suitcase barreled down the stairs like a one-rock landslide. April slammed her foot down on it, stopping it dead in its tracks.

Sheen frowned. "What the…"

Future Libby came rushing down the stairs, her arms laden with countless pieces of luggage.

"Oh no!" she gasped. "That bag had my third back-up set of hair ties in it! I can't lose those!"

Aurora followed behind her, looking rather exasperated. "Libby, there is no way that you need fourteen suitcases. This is ridiculous! No woman needs to bring THAT many things with her!"

"But what about all my outfits and shoes? And my jewelry? And what about my favorite CDs…and my favorite paintings? Girl, how can I go anywhere without my meditation candles or my pressed chrysanthemums? They bring good luck! And did I mention my shoes?"

"Shoes, yes," said Aurora. "But not EVERY single pair of shoes you own! You must have four bags filled with nothing but shoes! We're going into combat, Libby, not a Hollywood premiere. You need to pack a bit lighter."

With a sigh Future Libby gathered up her bags and headed back up the stairs to her room.

Aurora trailed after her. "I'm not letting you leave until you have three suitcases or less, you got that? Three!"

Sun-Hi burst through the double doors, carrying a tray of rice, vegetables, and various other foods.

"Time for breakfast!"

She set the tray out on the table, and as the kids sat down to eat, a dejected-looking Future Libby reappeared in the stairwell, this time carrying three pieces of luggage. Aurora breezed past her, grabbing one of the bags on the way.

"Eat faster, guys. I…"

Aurora's wrist communicator began to blink, and April's voice sounded from the other end.

"Aurora, I am on the ship. Last night we received a communication regarding the Gorlock High Council. You must come listen to this…it is urgent."

"Uh-oh," said Aurora. "Guys, forget breakfast. We're leaving now."

Carl shoved several more fistfuls of food into his mouth before being forcibly tugged away by the others. They scrambled out of the house and headed towards the ship, Aurora in the lead. Future Libby glanced lingeringly at Shangri Llama as it slipped away behind them.

"I wonder where all the monks are?" she said sadly. "I thought they'd at least say goodbye!"

Cindy pointed ahead of them. "Uhh…does that answer your question?"

Future Libby peered ahead into the clearing where the _Desperado_ was waiting, and where the entire population of Shangri Llama had gathered to send her off.

She darted forward, radiant with joy. "Chen-Yu! Sun-Hi! Mei! Quan! You're all here!"

"Surely you did not think that we would allow you to leave without properly seeing you off?" smiled Chen-Yu.

He gave a deep bow, and Future Libby returned it gracefully. April stuck her head out of the ship and yelled to Aurora.

"Are you coming or what?"

"Young alien woman!" called Chen-Yu. "Please, join us outside. We cannot let you leave without first giving you all a gift."

"A gift?" repeated April. "What sort of a gift?"

"Please, come down and join us. I promise, this won't take long."

April reluctantly walked down the ramp way, and Jimmy followed a moment later.

"If the three of you would please come forward…" instructed Mei, beckoning to them.

Aurora, Future Libby, and April stepped forward, and Jimmy fell into line with the other kids. Aurora crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently as April fiddled with her helmet. Only Future Libby seemed interested in what the monks had to say.

Chen-Yu began a grand oration. "We have come to give you the most valuable gift of all…the gift of knowledge."

"Wow" scoffed Cindy. "'Gift of knowledge'? You're kidding, right? That's got to be the corniest thing I've heard in awhile."

"Not just any knowledge," said Chen-Yu, with dramatic flair. "This kind of knowledge is something we all crave, but are rarely given…knowledge of the future."

Aurora raised an eyebrow. "What…are you gonna read our fortunes or something?"

April and Aurora both laughed at this, but stopped a moment later when a white, hooded figure stepped out from within the crowd of other monks. A silver pendant hung around her neck, and she held a strange, twisted staff in one hand. A glowing orange stone rested atop it.

"This is Tuyen, the dreamer for our people," said Chen-Yu solemnly. "Her powers of foresight are unrivaled, even among all the generations of seers who came before her. She is the one who instructed us to meditate deeply on the day the nanobots came. Tuyen dwells in solitude in the high mountains, but last night she came to us with news that she had had a dream…three dreams, in fact."

Tuyen pulled back her hood, revealing a countenance of terrible beauty. Her dark hair was fastened in a tight bun, with several strands hanging free around her face. Her bizarre, vacant orange eyes stared absently into space. When she spoke, her voice seemed to echo in their minds, and it was only after watching her for several moments that they realized she was blind.

"Three dreams, three women, three futures."

Tuyen edged up to Aurora and touched a lock of her hair. "I will begin with you, child," she said, running her fingers through Aurora's ponytail. Tuyen leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Aurora, bringing her face to within inches of hers. Aurora tensed up as the seer leaned against her.

"Umm…what is she _doing_?"

"Shh!" insisted Chen-Yu. "She is looking into you. She cannot see in the conventional sense, but she has other abilities that make up for it. Now please, do not speak."

Aurora looked to one side, unable to meet Tuyen's gaze directly. At last the seer relaxed her grip and rested her head on Aurora's shoulder.

"I can barely hear your heart, Aurora," she murmured. "It speaks very softly, for you have not listened to it in a long, long time."

"What are you talking about? And how the heck do you know my name?"

Tuyen tipped her head to one side, playing with Aurora's hair as she did so. She smiled coyly, like a child who knew a secret that she was not supposed to. "Oh…I know everything about you. About your past...and about your future."

Aurora edged away. "You know what's going to happen to me? Are you gonna tell me?"

"No, child. That cannot be done. But I can give you some insight that might help you. When I dreamed of you, I saw in your hand the blade of a knife. Like the knife, you are sharp…cold…alluring. You must be very careful in the coming days, or you will destroy yourself and everyone you care about with this knife. You have an important role to play, Aurora, but you must not let yourself be blinded by the past. Only when you face it will you be able to see your future. Your gift is intelligence…use it well, but don't let it use you."

Tuyen released Aurora - who quickly drew back, seemingly drained of energy - and moved onto Future Libby. Tuyen took Future Libby's hands in her own and gazed down at them.

"Dear heart, when I dreamed of you, I saw an ember. You are like that ember…you are the warmth that sustains and outlasts the flames. You will very soon recover something that you have lost, but when the time comes, you must not allow yourself to feel any fear. To feel fear would mean the destruction of all you care about. Only by remaining steadfast in the face of terror will be able to save the people you love. Your gift is stability…but be careful, for it is the rigid tree that first snaps in the wind."

Tuyen approached April last. She took her face in her hands, and April stared back blankly.

"Sister, fate is not kind to you. When I dreamed of you, I saw you sinking into a violet pool. You will soon lose two things that are dear to you, but you must not allow these losses to destroy you. Only by struggling with all your might will you be able to save yourself. Your gift is strength, and you will need all of it in the coming days."

Tuyen stepped backward, her eyes once again vacant, focused on nothing. "I sincerely wish all of you the best of luck. I hope to see you again, Libby. Perhaps I will return to Shangri Llama at some point in the future."

She pulled her hood over her face, and without saying another word, turned and walked away. Her silhouette grew smaller and smaller, until she melted into the trees leading into the mountains.

Chen-Yu's voice echoed out of the following silence. "You had best be going now. Peace to you, my brothers and sisters, and may you all find what you seek on your journey."

* * *

My baby name books says that Tuyen means "angel" in Vietnamese. XD

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	26. The Art of War

Time for chapter 26, and it's about to be a...GIRL FIGHT ;-) I had lots of fun with this one. Enjoy!

You know the drill: _ acaciathorn.d evian tart(dotcom)/art/Jimmy-X-Cindy-Labcoat-Rivals-197489987_

* * *

**Chapter 26: The Art of War**

Lost in contemplation, Jimmy and the others followed the three women into the ship. It wasn't until they entered the inner corridors that April snapped back to attention.

"Oh! Aurora, I was so distracted by that woman…I nearly forgot about the council's message! We must get to the bridge quickly."

Their pace quickened to a near run, and moments later the cockpit doors rushed open in front of them. April headed over to the console and keyed in a password, projecting a recorded hologram of some kind onto the portal at the front of the room. A muscular Gorlock stared out at them from the other side of the recording.

"For those of you who do not already know," explained April, "this is Leeeee-RAA-doh, one of my best friends and our local cultural liaison. You kids can just call him Lee."

The hologram flickered slightly as the recording began to play.

"April, Aurora, I am sorry to be so formal, but I am delivering this message at the request of the High Council Leader. Preparations for the final battle have begun. We are holding a meeting with the strongest of our allies to discuss our strategy and prepare for a major first strike. The meeting will be held in the evening hours on the second day of the Jasta moon. I hope to have you back on Planet Gorlock before that time so that you may assist in the negotiations between our people and our allies."

The message winked out. Aurora leaned against the wall and rubbed her forehead.

"Well, isn't that just GREAT? I _knew_ we shouldn't have stayed in Shangri Llama so long. It's one thing to persuade the Gorlock council to change their war plans…it's another thing entirely to change the minds of every single one of our powerful allies, all at once! How am I supposed to pass off the antidote as a valid plan now? They might even throw me off the council if they question my motives!"

"Aurora, do not get carried away," soothed April. "I am sure they would never force you to leave the council. You have helped us in more ways than I can count. They would never suspect you of duplicity."

Aurora shook her head. "You're obviously forgetting the kind of people our allies are."

"Who _are_ your allies?" asked Future Libby.

"Old friends," she said with a cryptic look, then switched her attention to Jimmy. "You'd better start work on the antidote while we're on route. You have a grand total of about two hours before we reach Planet Gorlock, so I'd get cracking if I were you. Cindy, help him out, and I DON'T want to hear any complaints, got it? Libby, I'm counting on you to keep tabs on the two partially-evolved apes in our company."

Both Libbys in the room answered simultaneously. "Who, me? …Us?" They giggled at their synchronized response.

Aurora continued rubbing her temples. "Ugh, this is going to get confusing. _Younger_ Libby, you keep Carl and Sheen from wrecking anything. MY Libby, you should come with April and me to the combat training room. I'll need to brief you on a few things before we go charging out onto the front lines."

"Sure thing," said Future Libby. "But if we're gonna do combat practice, it might be easier if I weren't wearin' this dress…maybe I should change into somethin' a bit more space-age?"

"Good idea," nodded Aurora. "I keep a couple of spare white under-suits in the storage room. They're not exactly 'fashion statements', but I'm sure you can dress them up if you try. Come on, I'll show you where they are."

She motioned for April and Future Libby to follow her, and they exited the cockpit.

Jimmy turned to Cindy, and there was a brief awkward moment. "Well, we'd better get started," he said at last. "I actually began making the antidote last night, so I don't think it will take too long to finish. I moved all my stuff into the kitchen…it's got the best work area. Shall we?"

"I guess."

They walked together to the door and waited as it slid open in front of them.

"You'll have to wear my old lab coat because Goddard only holds two in his storage compartment. It's not too worn, but the right sleeve is a little frayed and…"

His voice faded out of earshot as the doors closed behind him. About five seconds of silence passed before Sheen's attention span gave out.

"Well, I'm bored. What do you say we go bug Jimmy?"

"Nuh-uh," said Libby, wagging her finger. "Aurora said to leave him alone. 'Sides, do you really wanna see him and Cindy makin' eyes at each other the whole time they're pouring chemicals?"

Sheen and Carl recoiled. "Ewww, No!"

"Make it stop!"

"Well, that leaves us with a couple of options. We can explore the ship…which, considerin' your past record, doesn't seem like such a good idea…we can ask Aurora if she has any TV or video games to keep you busy…or…"

"Or we can go watch April, Aurora and Future Libba-licious do combat practice!" grinned Sheen, rubbing his hands together. "A three-way cat fight? It doesn't get any better than that!"

"Sheen, can you get your head outta the gutter for like, five seconds?"

"I don't know," said Carl, "I think it might be fun to go watch."

"What, are you trippin'? Since when are you into fighting?"

Sheen grabbed Libby by the hand. "Come on!"

"Guys, wait! Hey, Sheen…ahhhhh!"

Sheen practically dragged her out the door and down the hallway, but then screeched to a halt when he realized that he had NO idea where the combat training room was.

He pushed Libby in front of him. "Ya, like I was saying…lead the way…"

"You're the one who wants to watch, so YOU find the room."

"Maybe if we walk around for awhile, we'll just run into it," suggested Carl.

Libby shrugged. "Whatever. As long as it kills time."

The trio wandered down the corridor and disappeared into the wider network of passages beyond. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Jimmy and Cindy were preparing to work on the antidote. Jimmy frowned as he extracted a series of test tubes from Goddard's storage compartment and placed them on the table.

"Now HOW am I going to account for the catalysts?" he muttered to himself. "If the reaction goes too quickly, the shock could send him into a coma…"

Cindy pulled on her lab coat. "Uhh…Jimmy? Do you need any help, or am I just here for decoration?"

"Huh? Oh, ya, hold this."

He shoved a beaker into her hands, and she eyed its contests with disdain. "What's this gunk supposed to be?" she said, swirling the chunky liquid.

"That's the antidote…or, it will be eventually."

"Just what do you plan to do? Force-feed it to him?"

"Well, that _is_ a bit of a problem," he admitted sheepishly. "I had intended to inject him with the antidote, but now I'm having second thoughts. I'd need one heck of a needle, and someone would have to get physically close enough to give him the shot. Aurora is pretty much the only person who could do that, and I don't even want to picture the scene that would entail. She'd have her work cut out for her, that's for sure. And then there's always the possibility that he could anticipate her and inject _her_ with the antidote instead. The whole injection scenario involves too many variables, too many things that could go wrong. I want to make the antidote foolproof somehow…" – he leveled her a look – "since we'll be dealing with more than our fair share of fools."

"Ha, no kidding. Well, why not turn the antidote into a gas, then? If you put it into some kind of breakable vial, when DJ came close enough, you could crack it open and release the gas into the air."

Jimmy considered. "That's a good idea, but the antidote is a _liquid_ at room temperature_. _It won't change states without a sizable influx of heat. How could I create the temperatures necessary to maintain a gaseous state inside a breakable vial?"

"Why not just cheat a little? Disperse the liquid particles in a pre-existing gas. Turn it into an aerosol…like hairspray for example. Hairspray is nothing more than pressurized liquid chemicals suspended in air, so use the same principle."

Jimmy's smile grew. "Hairspray, huh?"

"Ya? What of it?"

His smiled disappeared, but he continued to watch her. "It might work. It won't be simple, but…if we work together…"

"We can do it," said Cindy emphatically.

"Ya, we can, can't we? Let's get to work."

…

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the ship, a high-pitched scream came flying down an isolated hallway. Sheen, Carl, and Libby darted out of a door and slammed it behind them. Crashing sounds and growls emanated from within, and it took all three of them to keep the door bolted shut.

Libby, back pressed against the door, panted hard. "What is Aurora thinkin', keepin' something like THAT on the ship?"

"I've seen some ugly alien monsters in my day, but that one took the cake…and the main course…and the chef...and pretty much anything else it could eat along the way!"

Carl fanned himself frantically. "I've never been so scared in my whole life…except for that time when we walked in to the ladies' room by mistake and saw Ms. Fowl without her…"

"AAAAHHHHH!" bellowed Sheen. "Don't remind me! I have enough scary images permanently burned into my brain already!"

"Sorry…"

Sheen counted on his fingers. "Well, we found four bathrooms, six storage rooms, three armories, eight closets, one alien freak, and one bright red room with absolutely nothing in it. This place makes NO sense, and that's saying something, coming from me."

Carl mopped sweat off his forehead. "This ship is just too big and confusing, and – wait. What was that?"

Somewhere in the distance there was a crash, followed by the unmistakable sound of giggling.

"Finally…" said Libby, pushing away from the door.

The three kids followed the sounds down another corridor until they arrived at an arched doorway. The hallway opened into a gym about half the size of a football field. Blue mats covered the stained floor, while exercise equipment and various high-tech machines packed each of the four corners. There was a huge target painted on the left wall, with scorch marks burned all around it.

Sheen surveyed his surroundings until he spotted a row of what appeared to be bowling balls. "Hey, I bet this'd make one heck of a dodge ball! Heads up, Carl!"

He stumbled over to the rack and selected the largest of the black spheres. It became immediately obvious that it was heavier than a standard bowling ball, and he staggered backward to maintain his grip. Future Libby appeared from behind a row of barbells, and as soon as she saw the kids she gave a wave. She had changed into a form-fitting white space suit, and had tied crimson and orange bands around her arms, her legs, loosely around her hips, and tight across her waist in a crisscrossing maze of color. Her earrings jingled as she stopped in front of them, but except for the sparkling gold ring on her left hand, all her other jewelry was gone. Sheen dropped the ball, and it bounced a couple of times before smashing into an expensive-looking machine.

"Wow, girl," said Libby. "That is outfit is _tight._"

Future Libby raised an eyebrow. "Tight as in 'cool' or tight as in 'revealin'?"

"Both…" supplied Sheen.

Aurora appeared behind him in the doorway, eyes blazing with anger. Little bits of emerald flame burned on the ends of her hair as she glared down at him.

"Sheen, what am I going to do with you? You dropped my zero-grav exercise ball, broke my radiation generator, AND you keep repeatedly hitting on my best friend? Do you have a death wish or are you just really stupid?"

"Don't worry about it, Aurora," said Future Libby. "I'm sure he didn't mean it. Besides, we don't really need a…what was it?…a radiation generator for hand-to-hand combat, do we? "

Aurora closed her eyes. "What are you kids doing here anyway? Libby, I thought I told you to keep them out of my hair."

"I…"

April appeared behind Aurora. "All right, which one of you opened the door to Loof-loof's room? He is very upset!"

"Loof-loof?" repeated Sheen incredulously. "Is that what you call that thing?"

April shot him an accusing look. "So it was you? He is my pet! You should not have disturbed him!"

"Disturbed _him_? I think you've got it backwards sister! That freak almost swallowed me whole!"

April clenched her fists. "Why, I ought to…"

"Look," interrupted Libby, "before we get into a big ol' fight here, you should know that these two want to watch you fight, and they aren't gonna shut up until they get their way. Just let us stay, and I'll make sure they're so quiet that you won't even notice us. See? Just pretend we're not here."

Aurora rolled her eyes. "I already am."

Smiling excitedly, Sheen and Carl took a seat along the wall next to the doorway. Libby plunked down next to the former, who asked her if she had any popcorn. Ignoring the spectators, the women headed out into the center of the blue mats. Aurora tipped her head from side to side and rolled her shoulders as April fastened a pair of cuffed brass knuckles over her forearms.

"Try to loosen up a bit, Libs," suggested Aurora, "and then we'll see how well your basic combat skills have been developed. You said the monks trained you?"

Future Libby bent down and touched her toes. "Ya, but only a little. Much as I love 'em, they're kinda sexist…they weren't real keen on a girl fightin' for fighting's sake."

April tipped straight into a back bend. "It is OK, Aurora and I are both experts in fourteen different types of martial arts. We will be able to help you improve your skills. Besides, if our plan works out, you will not need to do any hand-to-hand combat at all. Nevertheless, it never hurts to be prepared."

April kicked her legs over her head and transferred into a perfectly balanced handstand.

Future Libby watched her, wide-eyed. "Wow, I haven't been able to do a handstand since I was a little kid. That's amazin'."

Aurora brushed off the comment. "Ya, well, she has years of training, and so do I. So don't expect to instantly be able to do back flips or walk on your hands or anything else. Let's start out with a simple blocking set. This'll test your knowledge of basic self-defense."

Aurora lifted two fingers, took a deep breath, and then lunged at Future Libby. Instantly, as if pulled by a string, Future Libby's arm jerked up and blocked her attack. Aurora pulled her hand back, and then punched at Future Libby's stomach. She blocked this as well, and as Aurora's attacks grew faster and stronger, she stopped each new one without even breaking a sweat. When Aurora finished, Future Libby didn't have a hair out of place.

She grinned proudly. "Ya see?"

Aurora smiled approval. "Not bad at all! What a relief. I wasn't looking forward to smacking you in the face. It's going to be so much easier to teach you advanced moves when you've got your basics down so perfectly."

"How well do you know your leg blocks?" asked April. "Let us see."

April broke into a series of rather impressive high kicks, and Future Libby either blocked or dodged each one.

"Her defense is very solid, Aurora," nodded April. "But how is her offense?"

Future Libby looked sheepish. "Not very good. The monks never taught me any of those kinda moves. They said a girl should know how to defend herself, but to leave the fighting up to the men."

"Just give it a try anyway," said Aurora. "I'll go easy on you."

Future Libby swung at her, and Aurora grabbed her arm, thrust the elbow upward, and pulled her into a tight hold.

"Left yourself wide open there. OK, how about this: can you escape from a simple hold like this one? Give it a shot."

She squirmed frantically, but Aurora held her fast.

Future Libby grimaced as she wiggled. "Y'know, if you were a guy I could have gotten out by now. One good kick and I'd a won the fight before it even got started."

"For cryin' out loud Libby, that's not a gentlemanly way to fight!"

"Do I _look_ like a gentleman to you?"

Aurora released her, then sighed. "Well, you're no Houdini, that's for sure. Still, your defense is pretty darn tight. As long as your attacker doesn't manage to wrestle you into a hold, you should be able to stand your ground."

April cracked her neck. "Enough practice, Aurora. I am growing impatient. She is clearly not a match for either of us, and I want to spar. Did we come here to sit and chat or are you planning on actually fighting me?"

"You'd better go sit down, Libs. April and I'll give you a demonstration of how pros get it done."

Future Libby obediently left the mat and joined the kids, and all four of them leaned forward in anticipation for the fight.

"Ready when you are…"

April and Aurora's manner underwent a complete change. They crouched low and circled one another like caged animals, eyes focused and bright.

April cracked every one of her clawed fingers. "I am going to beat you into oblivion, Aurora. When I am done with you, your own mother would not be able to recognize your mangled face."

"I'd like to see you try, ugly," Aurora shot back.

"Not as ugly as you, jelly-bag. Were you not so repulsive, I would have skinned and eaten you already."

Carl covered his eyes. "Make them stop!"

Sheen grinned and elbowed Libby. "Haha, man, this is pretty good!"

April grabbed a spiked club from a rack of weaponry behind her and bared her razor sharp fangs. Aurora strengthened her stance as waterfalls of light poured down her arms and pooled around her clenched fists. The Gorlock charged at her and brought the club smashing down. Aurora caught it in one glowing hand and grinned as the molten metal slithered down her arm. She lashed out at April with an energy bolt.

From that point on the fight moved so quickly that it was nearly impossible for the spectators to keep track of it. Both women moved with deadly speed and agility, and their movements were so precise that it looked more like a carefully choreographed dance than a fight.

"I hope they don't hurt each other," said Carl. "It looks really dangerous!"

"Sweet chin cleft of Ultralord! Did you see that? Aurora almost got the club to the head that time!"

"Oh, be careful you two!" shouted Future Libby. "Please!"

Aurora and April snapped around and shot her the same vicious stare. "Shut up!"

Aurora turned a back walkover and clipped April in the mouth with her foot. April staggered back and wiped purple blood off from her lip, then dove at Aurora. Aurora rolled out of the way and swung her leg around, and April tripped and lurched forward. She grabbed both of April's arms and pulled them behind her, and there was a burst of green light before April hopped away, unable to pull her arms apart.

The Gorlock woman laughed loudly. "All right… hahaha! You win Aurora! You win! For goodness' sake, get me free!"

Aurora smiled hard. "I couldn't resist, April. Those metal armbands of yours make perfect handcuffs when they're fused together. Hold on, I'll break them open."

April strained against her bonds, and the cuffs popped off, sending shards of metal flying out all over the place. "No need. I got them off myself."

Aurora punched her on the arm. "Hey, nice moves! The back flip with that club of yours was pretty impressive. You almost got me that time."

"The fire was extremely irritating, as usual. Next time I fight you, I will not allow you to wear that suit."

Aurora snorted. "Well, have fun trying to get it off. The silver webbing is ingrained right into my skin."

"Oh well, I am sure that I will beat you anyway! You are faster, but I am stronger!"

April clapped a hand around Aurora's shoulder, and they both laughed in good-natured camaraderie.

Sheen stared, open-mouthed. "Dude, what is WRONG with you two? One second you're at each other's throats and the next you're chumming it up!"

"Right," said Aurora, still smiling. "I probably should have warned you. In Gorlock culture it's tradition to threaten and berate your opponent before your fight. If you don't, it's considered an insult. I mean, come on. I don't really think April's ugly."

"And clearly I am not planning to skin and eat her. It is merely combat etiquette to say such things."

"Phew," whistled Sheen. "This is one strange universe."

"Speakin' of strange, Aurora," began Libby, "did you say that suit is _ingrained_ into your skin? As in, you can't take it off?"

"Well, the blue fabric is retractable, so I can wear other outfits over it, but the silver neural relays are imbedded in my skin. I don't know how to get them out. I mean, I'm sure there's a way, but I didn't build the thing, so you can't expect me to know all its tricks. And it's not exactly like I can just phone up Neutron and be like, 'Hey Jim! So, you remember that suit I stole from you? How do you get the thing off anyway?' I guess being stuck like this is the price I pay for its power. It's not too bad when you think about it."

April considered. "Perhaps next time you see him you can ask him to take it off?"

Aurora glared sharply at her. "April, are you really that clueless or are you just trying to tick me off?"

Sheen burst out laughing, but Carl scratched his head.

"I don't get it…"

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of static pouring from the intercom. Cindy's voice followed a moment later.

"Testing…one…two…three. Can anyone hear me? Hello…"

"Cindy, what are you doing?" demanded Aurora. "How did you get on the ship's intercom?"

"Cool your jets. Neutron was too darn lazy to go and find you himself, so I asked the ship to put me over the intercom…all the _Desperado_'s systems are voice activated, remember?"

"What do you need?"

"I've got good news. No, great news: the antidote's finished. Meet us in the cockpit."

Everyone was dead silent for a moment, then in a flurry they all jumped up and made a mad break for the door.

* * *

The illustration's Japanese text 中性子 ジミー translates to Chuuseishi Jimi (Jimmy Neutron), and 竜巻 シンディ comes out to Tatsumaki Shindei (Cindy Vortex).

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	27. Homecoming

Read + comment = happy author.

_Chapter illustration_: (remove spaces, leave in underscores, copy+paste into new window): acaciathorn .d eviant a rt(dotcom)/art/Consumed-84399983

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**Chapter 27: Homecoming**

When Aurora and the others arrived a few minutes later, Cindy and Jimmy were waiting for them. Jimmy smiled broadly as they entered, and Cindy planted a hand on one hip. She held a tiny vial in the other hand.

"Is that it? Is that the antidote?"

Cindy grinned at her future self. "You tell me."

"How does it work?" asked April. "Can you demonstrate?"

"Sure," replied Jimmy. "The procedure is simple, actually. The antidote consists of liquid particles suspended in compressed air. Here, take a look." He pulled out a vial from his lab coat pocket. "This one here is a dud, but it'll give you an idea of how the real antidote works. There is an enormous amount of pressure built up within the vial, so when the glass is broken, the contents expand into the surrounding atmosphere with quite a lot of force. Observe."

He smashed the vial against the floor, and there was a tiny explosion as the pressurized mist sprayed out in all directions. Everyone coughed as the vapor spread throughout the room. The cloud dissipated slowly, and Jimmy stooped to pick up the shards of glass.

"You see?" he said, straightening. "The test vial contained suspended water particles instead of the antidote, but it's the same principle as the real thing. It's effective from a range of up to fifteen feet. All you have to do is get close enough to DJ and smash the vial."

Aurora shook her head. "I still can't believe that's the name we're going with here."

Cindy pulled two more vials from her lab coat. "There was only enough fungus to make three of these things, so we'll have to use them wisely. Aurora will get one, obviously, but it's up for discussion who should get the remaining two."

Sheen raised his hand and danced around crazily. "Oh! Oh! Pick me! I should get one! Me! Me!"

"Shove a sock in it, will ya?" growled Aurora, pointing to front portal. "Stop yammering for five seconds and look out the window. We're approaching Planet Gorlock."

The ship lurched out of hyperspace a moment later, and a green planet appeared ahead of the ship. Red mists shrouded its surface. Aurora took her place in the pilot's seat and inched the throttle forward, and the _Desperado_ began its descent toward the planet.

"Ah, it is good to see home again!" sighed April. "I was beginning to miss it."

Sheen tilted his head to one side. "It kind of looks like a giant, mutant pea…"

With a slight jolt of turbulence, they entered the maroon-tinted atmosphere. The solar system vanished behind them as the ship was swallowed by thick, murky clouds. They billowed up on all sides of the _Desperado_, curling and tumbling along the length of its streamlined body.

Libby squinted at the swirling haze. "Wow, that's pretty intense. I can't seen anythin'. How the heck do you fly in this kinda stuff?"

"By sense of smell," replied Aurora sarcastically. "What do you think? I use the ship's sensors."

A moment later the _Desperado_ burst out of the cloud cover. Aurora pulled up hard on the throttle, and their slope of descent leveled out. Below them, a dark, tangled jungle extended out as far as the eye could see.

Future Libby leaned over Aurora's shoulder. "Wow…look at _that!"_

"I know. Gorlock is a rainforest planet. It's covered from pole to pole in thick, untamed jungle. The vegetation cover is almost at 95 percent…there aren't even any oceans to break it up."

"Incredible!" Jimmy marveled. "In a place like this, the diversity of life forms must be staggering!"

"You're telling me. And the majority of those life forms want to eat you, so you'd better watch out."

She laughed at this, but Carl shrunk back behind the pilot's seat.

"Really? Is it really that dangerous?"

"Do not be such a whiner!" said April cheerfully. "You will not last two minutes down there if you…Oh, Aurora! I think I see rooftops! Fly lower!"

"You're right. I see them too. Hold on everyone…"

Aurora swung the throttle to the right, and the rear of the ship continued to sail forward even as the front end stopped. The ship's back creaked as it pulled a 180 degree turn, and they coasted to a stop. Aurora hovered above the tree line and scanned the terrain below. The trees whipped around wildly from the force of the _Desperado_'s thrusters, and Sheen squinted into the undulating mass of vegetation.

"I'm not seeing any rooftops!"

Aurora pointed at several dome-shaped metal objects barely visible beneath the trees. "There. You see them?"

"Those are buildings?" he frowned. "They look like…metal igloos or something!"

"Well, they kind of are," Aurora explained. "The Gorlocks are a mostly nomadic people. The metal tents can be disassembled and moved from place to place. This little settlement is actually just a camp on the outskirts of our destination: the Capital city of Nuku. It's one of only eight permanent cities on the entire planet."

Aurora turned the bow of the ship around and flew toward a hill thrusting upward out of the tangled greenery.

April leaned over the pilot. "Aurora, I think we have a problem. What will happen if someone realizes who these kids really are? If we were just meeting with the Gorlock High Council, I would not be worried, since most Gorlocks have a hard time distinguishing one human from another. However, one of our other allies might recognize Jimmy, and I would prefer not to explain to an entire room of my baffled allies why I am consorting with the Dictator's younger self."

"Good point. We should keep their identity a secret for now. Plus, they might prove to be a vital trump card if the meeting with our allies doesn't go according to plan."

Cindy crossed her arms. "Hey, you know, I'd appreciate it if you didn't refer to us as 'a trump card'. We're not just some gamble you're taking. Jeez."

Aurora shot her a sideways glance. "Oh, stop being so self-righteous. Life's nothing but one big gamble. Don't flatter yourself into thinking that you're anything but a card to be played."

"What is your problem?"

"Have a look in the mirror."

Future Libby fidgeted, then raised a finger. "Uh…Aurora? I think I have an idea."

"Shoot."

"My makeup bag's in one of my suitcases. If you want to keep the kids' identities secret, I could paint their faces up..."

"You know, that's not half bad. With enough makeup, I don't think anyone would be able to tell who they are. Just how different can you make them look?"

"Girl, I could make Carl look like Aphrodite. Back when I got bored in Shangri Llama, I would spend hours and hours just foolin' around with different ways to apply makeup. Even you won't be able to recognize them when I'm done."

Aurora grinned. "I'll believe it when I see it. Go give the kids a make-over and meet me back here when you're done. I'll land and lock down."

...

When Future Libby returned a short time later, Aurora was reclining in her chair, legs propped up on the dashboard. The ship had presumably come to rest on the ground, but the portal had been closed and nothing was visible outside. When Aurora heard the door to the cockpit open, she spun around.

"It's about time."

"Well, it would've taken even longer if mini-Libby here hadn't given me a hand," said Future Libby. "She did Sheen an' Carl's makeup for me."

Libby walked in behind her. "We figured they kinda looked like aliens already, so they didn't need too much work."

The others entered the room, and Aurora glanced at the bizarre patterns and colors that now adorned their faces. Painted scales extended from their hairline to their cheekbones, and their eyes were outlined in white. Two black lines running down from the corners of their mouths gave the illusion of chins on hinges. Cindy and Libby's lips were painted bright blue, and Carl, Sheen, and Jimmy's were painted white.

Aurora snorted. "They look _weird_, I'll give ya that."

"Oh c'mon, Aurora," said Future Libby. "You gotta admit, the makeup's pretty cool. I used bold colors and geometric lines to disguise their features. Anyone who looks at them will be too distracted by all the patterns an' stuff to notice who they are…kinda like clowns at the circus. Would you recognize them without their makeup? The scales are just an added bonus to give that 'weird sci-fi alien' effect."

"Well, Carl doesn't exactly look like Aphrodite, but then again that would have taken a miracle. I think these disguises will work for now. Come on, who wants a tour of Planet Gorlock?"

"Me!" cheered Future Libby. "Let's get goin'!"

On cue, April appeared in the doorway and motioned for the others to follow. The kids trailed behind the women as they traversed the labyrinth of passages leading to the ship's exit. Unlike Sheen and Jimmy, who seemed uncomfortable in their disguises, Carl was unabashedly thrilled at the makeup job. He gazed at his reflection in any available shiny surface and giggled with glee, apparently laboring under the delusion that his new look was strikingly beautiful. Jimmy attempted to give him a dirty look, but with no result.

"Almost there…" muttered Aurora, as she gave the command for the exit to unlock.

The door opened, and there was a loud _whoosh_ as the interior decompressed, and a cloud of hot, steamy air rushed in. April inhaled deeply, while the others grimaced in discomfort.

"Ah, home at last!" she sighed, holding her arms out as the moisture settled on her skin. "It has been a very long time!"

Jimmy held his nose. "Your troposphere seems to have a lot of water vapor…"

"Of course! Planet Gorlock is a very wet place. It rains every day without fail."

"_Every day_?"

"Yup. Welcome to the nightmare sauna, guys," said Aurora. "I hope you like tropical diseases and blood-sucking parasites."

They descended, blinking furiously as their eyes grew accustomed to the misty atmosphere. A look around revealed that they had landed in a vast, mossy valley of some sort. Beyond, slopes covered in impenetrable jungle extended outward in all directions. Dozens of other ships in every shape and size lay scattered about the plain: some were titanic, some were child-sized, some gleamed brightly, and others were rusted to the hull. The vast majority, however, were armed to the teeth with sinister-looking weapons.

Cindy surveyed the clearing. "Is this like…an airport or something?"

"Yes," answered April. "This is where visitors park their spaceships while they stay. It takes a lot of maintenance to keep the area free from trees and other plant growth, but it is a necessary evil if we are to maintain contact with our allies. This is one of the only areas on the planet that is always free of vegetation…that, and the capitol building of Nuku on the hilltop…"

April gestured at the hill to their right, which was really more of a small mountain. An imposing, castle-like structure loomed at the top.

"Whoa," said Jimmy. "Is that where we're going?"

April nodded. "It is."

Jimmy glanced around at the other ships uncomfortably. "You know April, this might sound kind of rude, but I've been meaning to ask you this for awhile: why are all these powerful people gathering here, on Planet Gorlock? What makes you guys so special? I would think your allies would want to hold council on a neutral planet. I mean, it seems like you guys are head of the resistance movement, and yet your civilization looks like it's barely out of the stone age. How is it that your people have managed to resist all the Dictator's attacks when other societies, many of which were surely more technologically advanced, have fallen?"

April smiled. "We are able to oppose him because we have an advantage. It began ten years ago, when I first met you, Jimmy. We were on an alien game show called Intergalactic Showdown, and if you think back, you will remember that the show's host, Meldar, had a pair of matrix generators, and you gave them to me…"

Jimmy gaped. "You still have Meldar's cufflinks? You have matrix generators?"

"Indeed. It is ironic, isn't it, that your gift ended up being our salvation? While we do not fully understand how they function, the matrix generators have brought us out of an era of technological inferiority and have given us an edge over both the Dictator and our allies. It is because of them that we have risen to power. We have…" April stopped short, and her eyes narrowed. "Someone is coming…"

Jimmy frowned. "I don't hear anything…"

A shriek pierced the air, and there was a flash of green as something charged out of the jungle. They caught a glimpse of sharpened tusks and flashing scales as a giant beast streaked past them and came to a screeching halt. Debris flew out in all directions, and the kids and Future Libby cowered in horror as April shaded her eyes and looked up at the creature.

"_Ai_! Leeeee-RAA-doh, is that you up there?"

The kids managed to overcome their terror long enough to look up at the beast, which turned out to be a jade-colored, reptilian warthog with a leather saddle atop its bristled back. The creature's fiery eyes flashed back and forth with a fury bordering on madness, and fangs glinted from behind the pieces of hanging moss that lay draped across its tusks. Seated atop the living nightmare was a familiar face: Lee, the Gorlock that had sent them the video transmission back on the _Desperado_. A closer look showed him to have well-defined muscles and a thick neck, combined with a kind face and long-lashed, almost girly eyes.

"Shiiiiii-ANNHHHH-dohnk!" he called down cheerfully. "It is very good to see you!"

"Lee, you sound so formal! How many times must I tell you to call me April?"

Aurora smiled. "Once more, as usual."

There was a moment of silence, and then all three burst out laughing, and Lee jumped down off his reptilian steed as easily as if he were dismounting from a horse. The three warmly exchanged hugs.

Lee beamed. "You have been gone for quite a while!"

Aurora shrugged. "Well, you know how it goes, with the war and all. Business as usual I guess. But it is nice to be back, now that you mention it. I was beginning to miss you, you big softy."

She grabbed the muscular Gorlock in a stranglehold and gave him a noogie, while April circled round and punched him a few times.

Lee laughed happily. "Ha! Haha! I missed you two!"

The girls released him, and they reveled in each other's company for a second more before turning to their baffled visitors.

April cleared her throat. "Forgive me for being rude, Lee. These are our companions. The tall human female is a friend of Aurora and must be treated as such. She is to be fully trusted and welcomed as our honored guest. The same goes for our smaller visitors. They are alien historians from a far off planet who have…uh…who have…who have come to our home world to learn more about the history of the matrix generator. They are our allies and our friends, and they are very interested in learning about our culture, our government, and our history, as well as our involvement in the war against the Dictator."

Lee leaned down to get a closer look at them. "Is that so? What species are they? Do they speak?"

"Of course we speak," said Jimmy. "We are…uh…alternate…lings. Ya. Alternatelings."

Cindy raised an eyebrow. "Nice name, genius."

"Shhh…."

"Hmm, interesting," remarked Lee. "They sure are small…"

He straightened again, and April turned to the kids.

"Lee has been my close friend since childhood and is one of the cultural experts for our people. I'm sure he will help you with whatever you need while we are gone."

"W-wait," stuttered Jimmy. "Gone? Where are you going?"

"You're leaving us alone on a planet where everything wants to eat us?" cried Sheen.

"We have a meeting to attend, remember?" said Aurora. "You guys aren't on the council, so you're out of the picture on this one."

Jimmy looked surprised. "We…we can't participate?"

"No. However, Gorlock policy allows spectators, so you can come and watch the meeting as long as you don't interfere. Make sense?"

"I guess so…" said Libby, "but how will we understand what's goin' on if we're stuck on the sidelines?"

"Lee will explain everything. Right, Lee? But right now April and I have to go file some weapons reports and do other boring stuff, and I'm sure you guys wouldn't want to be subjected to _that_. I sure as heck would rather skip it. But I can't, so you guys can stay with Lee and go on a little tour while we're waiting for the council to start. Lee, will you take our visitors to the assembly chamber when the meeting is about to begin?"

"Of course."

Aurora waved her hand airily. "Try to entertain them in the meantime. The geeky one in the orange suit has some serious attention span problems, so make the tour exciting if you can."

Lee gave her the thumbs down. "OK!"

"No, Lee," sighed Aurora. "When you answer OK, your thumb has to point UP."

"Oh. Sorry."

Aurora shook her head, and she and April headed off in the direction of the capitol building. April reprimanded Aurora for her earlier comment as their voices faded into the distance.

"What do you mean, weapons reports are boring? How can anything about weapons be boring? I really must protest!"

"Give it a rest, April…"

"What 'bout me?" Future Libby shouted after them. "Can't I come along?"

"Stay put, Libs. We'll see you again soon."

Future Libby looked defeated as she turned to Lee, who was baring his sizeable incisors in a smile.

"Well, well! I am very excited to have visitors! Especially historians! I am what your friend Aurora there would call a 'history geek'. I could talk about it all day, every day!"

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Oh, yay…"

"Now, if you'll kindly climb aboard Tolly here, I'll take you on a quick tour, then escort you to the capitol for the council meeting."

Libby looked up at the warthog. "Hold up. Lemme get this straight. You want us to RIDE that thing?"

"Tolly?" repeated Sheen. "It has a _name_? Jeez, what is it with you Gorlocks and your big, scary pets?"

Lee gave him a puzzled look. "I am not sure what you mean. Tolly here is neither scary nor big."

The kids gave him an incredulous stare, and then one by one they clambered up into the saddle. Carl whimpered in fear the entire time, then promptly began sneezing as soon as he reached the top.

"Aaachhooo! I think I'm – aachooo! ...allergic to this thing…"

Lee helped Future Libby into her seat before swinging up and taking his place at the front of the saddle. He grabbed the pair of spike-studded reins fastened to the warthog's tusks and gave them a sharp tug. The creature let out another unearthly squeal and reared up on its hind legs, then streaked off toward the jungle

"Ooooh…my…God!" cried Future Libby, holding on for dear life.

The saddle jostled around violently, knocking the kids from side to side and occasionally launching them into collisions with one another. Carl lost his balance and fell over, feet shooting up over his head.

"Whoooaaaahhheeek!"

Lee smiled brightly. "See? Isn't this fun?"

Cindy gripped the saddle tighter. "If by 'fun', you mean 'absolutely insane', then ya…" The giant beast veered to the right, and Cindy ducked to avoid bashing her head against a hanging branch. "Um, do we have some sort of destination or are we just gonna keep crashing through the jungle until someone gets decapitated?"

The warthog lurched again, and Sheen and Cindy smacked heads.

"Well," began Lee, "I was planning to take you to the encampment outside Nuku. That's where you'll be staying after the council meeting."

Sheen rubbed his head. "Aww, man! No battlefields? No blood and gore? What kind of tour is this anyway?"

"Sorry, there is no blood and gore here at the moment. If you would have come here ten years ago, things might be different..."

"Ten years ago?" asked Jimmy.

"Yes. Until we were united against a common foe – that is, the Dictator – Planet Gorlock was not exactly what you would call a functional state. Prior to a decade ago, the various tribes scattered across the planet were embroiled in a Civil War stretching back 700 years."

Cindy's eyes grew wide. "_700__years_?"

"Right. But since becoming involved in this galactic war, we have moved past our petty differences, and the senseless bloodshed has finally come to an end. Though we have not achieved the level of civilization that we had prior to the 700 year war, we have still made great strides in culture, technology, and politics during the past ten years and have risen up as one of the most powerful forces in the galaxy. Our militant society makes us the ideal candidate to oppose an equally brutal foe. As it turns out, the best way to fight evil is not with good, but with another kind of evil."

"Well, I could have told you that much," said Cindy. "But still, thanks for the info. I think I finally understand how Planet Gorlock fits into all of this."

"Well, I am glad I could clear that up for you! Now, before we arrive at the encampment, are there any other questions?"

Sheen leaned forward. "Here's what I wanna know: why are you green?"

Libby held onto Carl's shoulder to avoid being thrown off. "What kinda question is that?"

"Actually, it is a very good question!" smiled Lee. "And one to which I know the answer!"

Lee recited the information as easily as if he were reading from a textbook.

"Gorlocks are an phenotypically variable species ideally suited to living in a warm, water-rich environment! Our mammalian characteristics give us the ability to bear live young, while our amphibious traits allows us to rear those young in a habitat that is occasionally flooded. Our reptilian heritage means that we can adjust our metabolism to be more like that of a cold-blooded organism, which is advantageous to creatures living on a planet that maintains a constant temperature. Unlike mammals, we do not need to waste energy keeping up our own body heat when there is no need to!"

"But what does that have to do with being green?" said Cindy. "That was the most pointless explanation ever!"

"Be quiet, Cindy!" hissed Jimmy. "This is _fascinating_! It's like a window into alien evolution! Can you talk more about the phenotypical variation you mentioned earlier? Because I have noticed that Gorlocks come in an unusually large range of shapes and sizes..."

Sheen's eye began to twitch as Lee launched into another explanation.

"…and so you see, that's where the phenotype instability comes from, and why it extends to many of the other creatures that live on this planet as well. Gorlocks are, of course, the only ones to have developed intelligence, but this is largely due to environmental factors that…"

Cindy gritted her teeth in irritation as Sheen started to go cross-eyed.

"Sheen, you feelin' OK?"

"Of course I'm not feeling OK!" he wailed. "I come all the way to another universe, and what do I get? More _school!"_

The warthog began to slow as the vegetation grew less dense. Up ahead, a patch of light came into view.

"Hold on everyone!" shouted Lee. "The forest comes to an end just ahead!"

* * *

Fact: Lee is adorbs.

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	28. By the Shores of the Red Lake

This chapter was almost wholly inspired by an experience I had in Costa Rica. o_O

Read on!

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**Chapter 28: By the Shores of the Red Lake**

The kids shaded their eyes as they shot out into a small clearing. Metal tents lay scattered around on the trampled dirt, and a heavily scarred, bony Gorlock was throwing logs on the bonfire in the center. Beyond the clearing, an expanse of red water lapped against the rocky shore. Its wiggly surface-reflections shimmered over the axe that the Gorlock wore strapped to his back.

"Who goes there?" he called, straightening.

Lee shouted back. "General Garr-Nor, it is me, Leeee-RAAH-doh, second squad commander. And if I may say, you are looking exceptionally fierce today, sir."

General Nor squinted up at the saddle. "Oh, Lee. I did not recognize you. Say, what are those weird-looking things up there with you? Can we eat them?"

"Not this time, sir. They are visitors."

General Nor's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Don't feel bad," said Sheen. "You wouldn't like us anyway. Carl is _way_ too fattening!"

Another Gorlock, a hulking, buxom female, emerged from one of the metal tents. She was dressed in plates of scaled armor that lay awkwardly over her ample frame. An animal fur of some kind dangled from her shoulders like a feather boa.

"_What_ did you say about fat?" she asked, tapping one foot.

Future Libby's eyes grew wide. "O-oh, no, you see, he just meant that…"

"…Because I have never heard such a sweet compliment! I am so flattered! Thank you little…uh…what _is_ that thing, Lee? I just love it!"

"It is a side dish," grumbled General Nor, "but Lee says we can't eat it."

"It is so cute! I want it for a pet! Lee, can I have it?"

Lee shook his head. "Certainly not, Bilka. I cannot give it to you. It is not mine."

She shrugged. "Oh, well, that is not a problem. I will steal it later. In the meantime, can I interest you in some food? I have Kragor beans boiling in the tent, and there is a succulent Grorrgnog roasting over the fire…"

The kids recoiled. "Nooo!"

"That sounds excellent!" said Lee. "We will eat while we are waiting for the council to begin."

Lee dismounted and helped his guests climb down from the saddle. Carl tumbled off and fell in a heap, and Sheen did a flying leap into a fern bush. He sat up, a fern sticking out of the back of his shirt.

"This place is wicked! Hey Libs, check this!" He stuck two ferns to the front of his head like a pair of giant antenna. "Now I look just like Mothra X from Ultralord episode 229! Oh no! The flame! Not the flame! It's drawing me in! Ahhh!" Sheen staggered toward the bonfire in the center of the clearing, swerving and grabbing at his fern antennae in mock agony. "Ah! Cursed feelers! Why do you betray me? Nyooo!"

Bilka clapped her hands together. "Oh my, what an entertaining creature! I must have one!" She caught Sheen by the wrist and dragged him toward one of the metal tents. "Come, you can help me prepare the Kragor beans!"

He tried to resist, but she snatched him up and squeezed him in a crushing hug. His eyes bulged as she tousled his hair and rocked back and forth in glee.

Sheen mouthed the word to Libby. "Help…"

"Have fun!" she laughed, wiggling her fingers at him.

Bilka and a miserable looking Sheen disappeared into the tent, and Nor glumly led the rest of the group to the bonfire. A ring of mossy stones encircled the fire pit; Nor took a seat on one of them, and the rest of the group followed his example.

Carl squirmed. "It's weird, but my seat is kind of hard…"

"Duh!" said Cindy. "It's a _rock!_"

Future Libby attempted to sit down in a ladylike manner, but fell clean over when two small Gorlock children dashed past her. Both were girls, but they differed greatly in appearance. One wore black leather under a tight metal waistband and silver suspenders. She wielded a thorny stick and ululated wildly as she chased the other little girl, who was wearing a dress made of lilac colored fur. The girl in lilac was covered in nicks and scrapes, and a cut beneath her left eye oozed a stream of blood.

The girl in purple threw up her arms to ward off the blows. "_Ai!_ Stop it Nakki! You are hurting me!"

"Ppppfffttt! Pathetic, thin-wristed nothing! Fight back Wenna, or I will hit you harder!"

Nakki chased Wenna around the circle of stones, swinging her thorny club and yelling all the while. The visitors stared incredulously, but Lee and General Nor seemed oblivious to the commotion.

"_Aiiiiii_! MOTHER!" cried Wenna. "Nakki will not stop hitting me! She is hurting me! Stop! Stop!"

Bilka emerged from the tent, carrying a steaming cauldron whose contents sloshed around with each swaying step.

"How many times have I told you Wenna? This type of behavior is pathetic. When Nakki hits you, fight back! If someone hits you with a stick, find a bigger one! This is the Gorlock way of life. If you cannot accept that, then you will not survive."

Bilka waddled back inside the tent, and Nakki sneered at her sister.

"Failure!" she said, sticking out her tongue. "Pathetic! You will be slain in battle!"

Nakki raised her hand to strike her sister again, and Wenna braced herself for the blow. Future Libby caught Nakki's wrist.

"That's enough! I'm not gonna sit around and watch a little kid get beat up!"

Both of the Gorlock girls looked up at the human woman, whose face was contorted into a surprisingly angry scowl. "Nakki, or whatever your name is, you don't have any right to hit your sister, you hear me? This kind of fightin' is what gets everyone into trouble. I don't wanna see it again. Got it?" She glared fiercely at Nakki, who returned the favor. She turned to the other girl, and her expression softened. "Now, Wenna, is that your name?"

"Y-Yes…" she sniffled.

Future Libby patted her lap. "Come sit, Wenna. You don't deserve to be beat up. Kay?"

Wenna obeyed, and Nakki laughed scornfully. "What sort of thing are you? You like weak children?"

"Actin' nice is _not_ the same thing as bein' weak," said Future Libby firmly.

"Bleh! Loser! Maybe I should hit you too!"

"I wouldn't do that, Nakki," said Lee. "This woman is a friend of Aurora and April."

Nakki fell silent for a moment, then grinned nastily before dashing off into the forest.

"Phew," whistled Cindy, "and I thought human kids had problems."

Future Libby smiled down at the tiny Gorlock sitting on her lap. "You OK, sweetie?"

Wenna gazed up at Future Libby and nodded slowly. She had big, shining eyes and long lashes. "I'm…I'm sorry to be rude, but is that true? Do you know Aurora and April?"

"Sure do. Aurora an' I were best friends when we were your age."

"Wow. Aurora and April are so strong and brave. I wish I could be like them. But I am not like my sister. I will never be good enough to be a soldier."

Future Libby tousled her hair. "That's OK! Everyone's good at different things. We don't all have to be a certain way to be important."

Wenna stared into the fire. "Oh. I didn't know that."

"Well, now you do," said Future Libby, trying to sound cheerful. "Hey look, you hungry? I think your Mom is done cookin'."

Bilka exited the tent laden with bizarre food, and Sheen staggered out behind her, wobbling from side to side as he attempted to carry a heavy pot. As soon as he laid eyes on Wenna perched atop Libby's lap, he let go of the cauldron, and it dropped like a stone. Orange, chunky material sprayed out all over everything, including Bilka.

"What gives? How come _she_ gets to sit on Libbylicious's lap? That is _so_ unfair!"

"Ugh!" cried Bilka. "You call that unfair? Now I am covered in the melli-melli. Lee, I have changed my mind. This creature is more trouble than it is worth. I will not be stealing him any time soon. Oh! The melli-melli is all over the ground too!"

She stooped over, and to everyone's astonishment, began scooping the mush back into the cauldron. Twigs, stones, and clumps of dirt found their way into the mix along with the melli-melli.

The visitors recoiled for a second time. "Euuugghh, oh yuck!"

Bilka hoisted the pot and waddled over to them. She set it down, then lumbered back into the tent, oblivious to their revulsion. When she came back, she carried two wooden bowls filled with what appeared to be ordinary baked beans. Bilka set them down by the fire, and the kids eyed the contents suspiciously.

"Are those…Kragor beans?" asked Jimmy.

"Why yes!" said Bilka. "Do you like them? I will ladle some into a…_aiii_! Wenna, I have forgotten! Will you fetch us some plates?"

Wenna hopped down from Future Libby's lap and dashed off. Libby cautiously pointed at the wooden bowls.

"So lemme get this straight…these are actual _beans,_ right? As in…the plant? Cause I don't wanna wake up tomorrow and find out I ate some freaky pile o' sloth guts or somethin'."

"Oh yes, they are beans from the ground. They're not very strong tasting, but that is why we have the melli-melli here!" Bilka kicked the cauldron with her foot, sending globs of the stuff running down the sides. She huffed impatiently. "Wenna! What are you doing? Hurry up with those plates!"

The tiny Gorlock returned carrying a stack of leaves, each carefully folded into the shape of a bowl. Wenna handed the makeshift tableware to General Nor, who took one and passed the rest down the line. Jimmy stared down at his quizzically, examining its network of watertight creases.

"You eat out of folded leaves?"

"Of course," answered Lee. "As a mobile society, disposable dinnerware is a necessity."

Jimmy turned the bowl over in his hands. "Huh. Interesting…"

"Well?" prompted Bilka. "Are you going to eat?"

Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess…after all, as guests to a foreign…erm…place, it's only polite to at least _try_ the food. Hey Lee, can I…"

He was cut off when Nor and Lee dove for the larger bowl of Kragor beans. They shoved handfuls of the stuff into their leaf bowls, and then, snarling at each other, raced to scoop piles of melli-melli onto it.

Cindy scowled. "Eww! Ever heard of table manners?"

Nor bared his teeth in response.

"I can see where April gets her charming eating habits from," said Libby, wrinkling her nose.

"What are you waiting for?" said Bilka. "Take the Kragor beans, or you will not get any!"

Future Libby took the remaining bowl and, after giving it a nervous sniff, suddenly brightened. "Mmm! Smells tasty!"

She poured a small portion into her leaf, then passed it on. The kids did the same.

"Well?" ventured Jimmy.

"OK," said Libby, "on the count of three, we'll all take a bite. One…two…three!"

Various chewing noises and sounds of delight ensued.

"Mm-Mm-Mmmm!" approved Carl. "They're even better than Plutonian Gut Chunks!"

"I'm just glad we're not munching on mud and sticks," said Cindy.

The melli-melli let out a distinctly unappetizing gurgle, and a chunk of orange mush sailed out. It hit Sheen square on the stomach, then slid down his torso, leaving a trail of thick slime in its wake.

"Wow, what are the odds? Check it out, babes! I've got melli-melli jelly on my belly!"

They all groaned. "Sheen!"

Jimmy rubbed his head. "Are the quips really necessary?"

"What? I'm bored!"

"Um, _I'm_ bored, but you don't see me acting like a total whack-job," shot back Cindy.

Jimmy snickered in response. "Ha…haha…"

Cindy threw him a vicious stare, but then snapped to attention at the sound of a loud drum somewhere in the distance.

Lee perked up. "That is the drum signaling the commencement of the Gorlock Council. We must leave at once!"

"Ah, Lee!" protested General Nor. "You really wish to go listen to a bunch of young know-nothings and foreigners discuss a war that isn't even on our soil? You should stay with me, and listen to my stories of the glory days during the Civil War!"

Lee darkened. "April is NOT a know-nothing. Besides, I must bring our guests to the meeting."

Nor didn't bother to dignify him with a response, so Lee got up and gestured for the others to follow. Before leaving, he let out a loud burp.

"Thank you for the meal, Bilka," he said, patting his stomach. "It was filling."

"Glad to see you liked it!"

She turned to the kids and waited. They stood around awkwardly, not sure of what to do.

"Why is she looking at us like that?" whispered Carl.

Jimmy snapped his fingers. "She's waiting for us to burp! Remember how April said it was an insult in Gorlock culture if you don't burp after a meal? Quick, everyone, expel gas from your digestive tract!"

A chorus of rather disgusting-sounding belches followed, considerably enhanced by Carl's earth-rumbling burp at the end.

He covered his mouth daintily. "'Scuse me."

"Ah! Very good!" smiled Bilka. "Well, goodbye alien guests. May you be always victorious!"

Waving goodbye to their Gorlock hosts, Lee and the humans took their leave of the encampment and headed out toward the grassy plain leading to the capitol building.

Libby looked out at the expanse. "You gotta be kiddin' me…you want us to walk that whole way? Jimmy, can't we ride on Goddard or something', like we did on Mars?"

"Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but I'm worried about Goddard's battery. The tinted Gorlock atmosphere cuts out the type of UV rays that he normally uses to recharge. He's been running on limited power for a couple of hours now."

To confirm, Goddard hung his head and whimpered.

Cindy crossed her arms. "Looks like we're getting a workout."

* * *

I'm not kidding about the Costa Rica thing. We ate unidentifiable foods out of leaf bowls.

It turns out that weird stuff happening to you in real life makes for excellent fiction material.

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	29. The Council

Sorry about the hold up everyone...I've been having some internet issues lately. Anyway, here's the chappie illustration: ww w .idreamofjimmy(dotcom)/Fanart/MaraNav . jpg

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**Chapter 29: The Council**

Twenty minutes later, the whole group stood at the top of the hill, sweating and panting.

"I had no idea I was this out of shape…" said Future Libby, gasping for air. "I better start exercisin' or I'll get fat. Oh no! Cindy, am I fat?"

"Don't be ridiculous. It's just the humidity. Besides, it's hardly surprising to feel a bit drained after not sleeping all night and then climbing up a mountain."

Lee, the only one in the group who seemed unfazed by the hike, threw her a puzzled glance."I am not sure I understand you. This was certainly not a mountain, merely a small hill."

Nobody had the energy to retort, and Lee gestured for his visitors to follow him inside. They passed under a portcullis, its metal prongs hanging down from the mouth of the door like crooked fangs. The building itself was fashioned from ancient stone, its surface white with age and mottled with patches of moss and lichen. The bricks had come loose in places, and iridescent reptiles crawled between the cracks, nesting in the dark places where stones once had been.

Jimmy looked up at the ruins as they entered. "How old is this place ?"

"Even we do not know," replied Lee. "This building has been here for as long as our people can remember. It was constructed long ago, back before the 700 year civil war. We no longer know where it came from or what purpose it once served, but we figured from its sheer size that it must have been important, so we decided to make it our capitol building."

Cindy rolled her eyes. "How clever."

"Isn't it? I am part of the team working to decipher the runes on the interior walls...our traditional writing system has been lost for centuries, but I am confident that with proper study I can change that. Anyway, moving on..."

They proceeded down a darkened passageway, pushing aside the vines and tendrils that dangled from the low-lying ceiling. The muddy terrain and the cramped space only served to exacerbate the humidity. As they pushed through, a lithe Gorlock sporting two curved blades slunk past. She cast them a furtive glance, her magenta eyes narrowed in suspicion, and a collective chill shot up their spines.

Libby shivered once she had rounded the next corner. "This place gives me the creeps."

"It is a bit on the unpleasant side," admitted Jimmy, "but I'm sure there's nothing to be afraid of…"

Jimmy trailed off when Lee burst into a rather disconcerting chuckle. "If you are not expecting danger, my diminutive friend, then you surely do not know the Gorlock way."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, small one, that you will be meeting some rather interesting people before the evening is out. Contrary to what many outsiders believe, the Gorlock Council is not exactly what you would call a 'legally upstanding' organization. It is comprised of some of the most notorious criminals alive today…some of whom are almost as dangerous as the Dictator himself." The kids gaped at him, and Lee continued on nonchalantly. "After all, you must ask yourself: how do you defeat a power-crazed, criminal mastermind? Why, with other power-crazed, criminal masterminds, of course!"

He smiled again, as if the whole situation was somehow delightfully amusing. Carl's eyes widened as he looked up at Lee.

"Are YOU a criminal mastermind?"

Lee laughed. "Far from it, I am afraid. I am merely a cultural relations expert…nothing to be proud of."

Jimmy shot him a nervous glance. "Lee, just what kind of people are we talking about here? I don't like the idea of walking into a room of murderous convicts empty-handed."

"Well, Aurora and April are on the council, and as their guests I am sure they will not let harm befall you – unless it suits them. But we shall see, won't we? Come now, we have arrived at the central chambers."

Strange symbols and patches of red moss dotted the arched roof, while rays descended through a small skylight and lit up the empty stone table in the center of the room. Carved in the shape of a capital T, the table was pitted with craters and other scars of old age. Rows of stadium seating stretched along the curved walls like an Roman amphitheater, and spectators of a dozen species occupied the rows.

Future Libby glanced around. "Should we sit down, or…"

A rather ugly-looking Gorlock wearing a horned helmet entered the room. He cleared his throat and smashed his staff against the broken floor tiles. Every head in the room snapped over in his direction.

"Hear this!" bellowed the Gorlock. "All spectators to their seats immediately! Anyone found standing will be thrown out of the council chambers and beaten!"

As expected, nobody argued with such impeccable logic. Lee and his charges found spots facing the base of the table, which afforded them an excellent vantage point of the council members as they entered the room. The first to appear were five Gorlocks, led by a tall, willowy female laden with jewelry. Her light purple hair, which fell nearly to her waist, was streaked with ribbons of silver, and a string of luminous beads encircled her neck. Only a small blaster weapon hanging from her belt broke her formal attire. Four heavily-armed males followed her, running their fingers over their weapons with each scowling step. The group lined up along the edge of the table, all eyes upon them.

"Lee, who are _they_?" whispered Future Libby.

"This is the Gorlock High Council, the most powerful group of people on our planet. The female there – Lady Jaya – she is the High Council leader. The other four are the top-ranking Generals in the Gorlock army. The five of them act as an administrative panel, moderating the conferences with our allies and…sorting out those who need to be sorted out, if you catch my meaning."

Jimmy shuddered, but Libby stared at Lady Jaya in admiration.

"I've never seen a Gorlock with such beautiful hair…I didn't even know you guys HAD hair."

"Ah, yes, well…in our culture, long hair is a sign of rank. Only those commanding the highest prestige may grow their hair long." Lee lifted off his helmet to expose the thin covering of purple fuzz on his head. "I do not possess a high military rank, so my hair must be cropped short. April's, however, is considerably longer…nearly chin length, an impressive accomplishment for one so young." Lee laughed quietly, as if recalling an old memory. "I remember when the General in charge of our division tried to make Aurora cut her hair. Ha! That was a sight! She nearly…"

Jimmy whacked him in the ribs. "Shh, she's saying something…"

Lady Jaya spread her arms in a gesture that showcased her well-developed muscles. When she spoke, her voice was sharp and full of power. "The 19th tribunal of the Gorlock Council and its allies will now begin."

The remaining twelve members of the council filed into the room. Aurora entered first, and Jimmy caught her eye when she brushed past. He felt a momentary surge of confidence, until he got his first glimpse of the other council members.

"Hey, I know those guys!" burst out Sheen. "They're…"

Cindy clapped a hand over Sheen's mouth before he could blurt out the incriminating words. Her eyes flashed to catch Lee's reaction, but he seemed distracted.

Jimmy, meanwhile, felt his heart freeze inside his chest. Aside from April and Aurora, the gathering contained six other familiar faces. There, in the very same room, were some of Jimmy's oldest enemies: King Goobot, Eustace Strych, Beautiful Gorgeous, and the three space bandits, Zix, Tee, and Travoltron. Jimmy gulped audibly, and the kids inched further into the shadows.

Jaya's voice rang out. "The council may be seated!"

They took their seats in unison. The five members of the High Council were stationed at the far end of the table; Aurora sat directly opposite them at the base of the _T_. Jimmy swallowed apprehensively, then whispered to Lee, his voice rising and falling with feigned innocence.

"Um, Lee, since we haven't met ANY of these people before today, would you mind filling us in on their identities? Quietly, of course."

"Certainly. Where should I begin?"

Cindy pinched Jimmy on the forearm. "You're just lucky Lee is completely clueless," she whispered, "or you could have just blown our cover. Try not to be such an obvious liar next time."

"I guess I just don't have as much practice as some people around here…" he muttered with a covert scowl.

Before Cindy could offer a retaliatory comment, Lee indicated Beautiful Gorgeous, who was seated beside Aurora on the right. The single streak of white in her jet black hair was the only indication of the ten years that had passed since the destruction of Earth.

"The first one there on the right is a human female like Aurora. I am afraid I do not know much about her, as her criminal activities rarely intersect with my circles. From what I understand, however, she was an enemy of the Dictator in his youth. She apparently left Earth in her father's unfinished escape device —"

"Sounds familiar…" muttered Cindy under her breath.

"— only to run out of fuel in space, where she was picked up by a group of interstellar environmentalists."

Beautiful Gorgeous tapped her fingernails on the table, looking vastly bored by the constant jabbering of the man beside her: Eustace Strych. He was prematurely bald, and his prominent front teeth did little to improve his appearance. His custom-made designer business suit was perhaps his only attractive feature – that, and the wads of cash that he openly counted in front of everyone.

"Good God, look at Strych!" said Cindy.

Jimmy smirked. "Still think you two have a lot in common?"

She glared at him.

"I'm sorry," said Lee, "perhaps I misunderstood. Do you two know the pallid male seated beside her?"

Cindy and Jimmy practically jumped out of their seats. "No!"

Lee looked confused for a moment, then relaxed and proceeded with his speech. "Well, he is also a human. His name is Master Strych, and he is an intergalactic business mogul whose vast funds help to finance the war effort. He is always asking Aurora out on these things called 'dates', but I do not think she appreciates the gesture. The last time he asked, she punched him in the face. Then again, he did attempt some unwanted physical contact that clearly…"

"Eeew, OK, enough," Cindy waved him on. "Next please."

"Next we have three members of a space bandits gang who routinely pass themselves off as asteroid inspectors..."

Lee told them nothing they didn't already know about Zix, Tee, or Travoltron, and his information on King Goobot proved similarly familiar. It wasn't until Lee moved on to the other members of the council that their interest truly peaked. April occupied the seat to Aurora's left, and a hooded figure loomed beside her. The fabric enshrouding the creature was brown, ragged, and pockmarked with holes, and a mustard-yellow haze seemed to cling to him. His only visible feature was the hooked nose that protruded from the opening in his hood. Cindy bent over and whispered to Jimmy in disgust.

"That weird guy in the shroud…his nose is covered in boils and open sores. It's gross."

"I noticed. Lee, what's up with the lumpy guy?"

"Ahh, yes. That is Hawk, named for the famous beak-like nose that sticks out from under his hood. Hawk is well known for his utter insanity and his expertise in the field of biological weaponry. He is one of the _Seven Samarkandi_…"

"Seven Samar_what_?" repeated Carl.

Lee looked surprised. "You must be very sheltered indeed if you have not heard of the Samarkandi. The Samarkandi are the seven most wanted criminals alive today. Guilty of crimes ranging from mass murder to grand theft: spacecraft, they are incredibly dangerous. They are ranked in order from one to seven, with one being the most lethal, and seven the least. I believe that you are all familiar with the 1st Samarkandi...Jimmy Neutron, the Galactic Dictator."

"You mean this…Hawk person is right up there with Evil Jimmy?" asked Libby incredulously. "And you're _ALLIED_ with him?"

"Yes…though he's not quite as dangerous as the Dictator. Hawk is the 6th Samarkandi. And you might not believe it, but the man sitting next to him is actually the 7th Samarkandi, _Nav__Aksha'at_…"

He spoke the name almost scornfully, barely bothering to raise a hand to point him out. Nav was seated next to the hooded monstrosity. He appeared perfectly human in every way, with the exception of the metal plates, bolts, and screws welded to nearly every part of his body. His left arm was mechanical, and crisscrossing belts gleamed under his gray long-coat. His blonde hair stuck up almost straight, except for a few loose strands that dangled over his forehead, partially obscuring two smiling gray eyes. The strip of silver metal welded above his right eyebrow caught the light from time to time, spinning off reflections in all directions.

"That guy…" breathed Libby. "He's…"

"A cyborg?" finished Cindy.

"Hmm. I don't think so," said Jimmy. "The mechanical parts look secondary to me. He must have been quite normal at one time; the metal additions were probably welded on little by little, perhaps as a crude way to treat injuries."

"Poor thing," crooned Future Libby. "He's so cute, too…"

Lee turned his face away to mutter. "That is what they all think…" He cleared his throat. "Nav Aksha'at is a member of a race known as Numerians, whose similarity to humans points either to a spectacular example of convergent evolution, or perhaps (as some anthropologists speculate) to an alien relocation of a group of humans in antiquity. Numerians usually are not big on crime outside their own planet, but Nav breaks the mold, in more ways than one. Keep your eye on him for awhile, and you will see what I mean."

"Will do," said Future Libby. "So, are any of the other Samarkandi your allies?"

"We work with the 5th from time to time, but he is very unreliable. He is a pathological liar and is always skipping town at the most inopportune times."

"What about the others?" asked Cindy. "The top four, besides Dictator Jimmy, I mean."

Lee threw her a look. "Let's just say that you would not to be in the same room with one of the top four Samarkandi. You would not last long."

"Oh…"

"But please, enough on this subject. Let us move on to more interesting things…like the creature seated beside Nav."

The creature in question was as tiny as a sprite and had two yellow eyes set in a cherubic face. Its pink skin glistened with some sort of liquid coating, and two barbs protruded from its head, waggling as they tracked the sounds in the room.

"That thing is called Pinxit. Do not let its appearance fool you…it is extremely poisonous. Its skin secretes a neurotoxin, and the barbs on its skull contain enough venom to kill an adult Gorlock in less than 5 seconds."

"Cool!" said Sheen. "I'd like to get my hands on some of that! Haha. Then rub it all over Carl!"

"Quiet!" hushed Jimmy. "Let Lee talk!"

"I'm sorry, what? Ah yes…finishing. Lastly, we have Tartune."

Lee pointed out the final member of the council where she was seated on the far left. She turned out to be the same frightening Gorlock that they had encountered on the way in. Her hair was so dark purple that it appeared black, and two golden scimitars rested on her back, rising and falling with each breath she took.

"Tartune is…" Lee frowned. "…something of an enigma, actually. She cannot speak, but she is a prodigy in combat, and when Lady Jaya ventures outside her sphere of influence, Tartune acts as her personal bodyguard. She once defeated an entire squadron of highly trained Gorlock soldiers with her bare hands. She seems half-mad, and frankly, she terrifies everyone. That is why she is on the council, of course. Terror breeds respect."

"Not in Nav's case, I'm guessing," said Future Libby.

"How do you mean?"

She pointed a manicured nail at him. "Look. I think he's breakin' the mold as we speak…"

The Numerian was entertaining himself by teasing the only person at the gathering who was conceivably more dangerous than him. After scrutinizing Hawk's features with comical intensity, Nav hunched forward and pulled his coat over his head as if it were a hood. He pursed his face into the surliest expression imaginable, then crooked his finger at the tip of his nose. He went on to copy every move Hawk made, and the mimicry was so perfect that it nearly sent the kids into a giggling fit…until they remembered their current situation and thought better of it. Grinning irreverently, Nav concluded the parody by wiggling his finger-nose at Pinxit, who hissed in response.

"I don't believe it," said Cindy. "He's a total idiot."

"He likes to appear that way," said Lee. "He counts on his charisma to get him out of the worst situations...ones that he usually causes. He is ranked among the Seven Samarkandi for one simple reason: he has stolen more in ten short years than any other man who has ever lived. It is estimated that the cost of the stolen items equals more than 175 times the Galactic Annual Budget. Nav will literally steal ANYTHING that is not nailed down…and if it is, he will steal the nail and call it even. He has stolen many things..." Lee paused and cleared his throat. "Did I mention that Nav is April's fiancé?"

"WHAT?" gasped Libby.

"Her FIANCÉ?" repeated Jimmy. "Are you kidding me?"

Cindy smacked her forehead. "Jeez, you think you could have told us this earlier! It kind of seems like an important detail, don't ya think?"

Lee looked away, eyebrow twitching slightly. It took him a moment to get his face under control before resuming his familiar tour guide manner. Future Libby surprised them all by leaning forward and touching Lee gently on the shoulder.

"You like her, don't you? April I mean. You don't want her to marry this Nav guy."

Lee stuttered, taken completely off guard. "Well, I…I didn't…How did you?…"

Future Libby shrugged. "I'm a girl. We know these things."

Lee leaned back and sighed. "I don't normally discuss personal matters with visitors, but since you have already inferred the truth of the situation, I see no harm in answering. Ever since I was a small child, I have thought of no one but her. But it does not matter – the fact is, I could never measure up to either her Gorlock suitors or to Nav. I am just a history geek who could not beat her in a fight, even if my life depended on it. What Gorlock woman would ever want a man weaker than herself? No, I am not like Nav. He has a talent for getting into all sorts of exciting adventures…and he is very handsome, at least by Numerian standards. April has a thing for foreign men."

"Maybe if you told her how you felt, it'd change things?" suggested Future Libby.

"No, no. I know she would never want me, or I would have told her long ago."

He looked down glumly, just in time for something to smack him on the head. Rubbing his newly acquired bump, he picked up the offending object, which turned out to be a scrap of paper folded into a triangular shape. He uncrumpled it and scanned the words:

_Shut your yaps, will ya? You're going to draw attention to yourselves with that little sideline conversation. While I appreciate you giving our guests a history lesson, I'd rather not have to explain to the High Council why I brought a bunch of tourists in here. Try not to be so obvious! -Aurora_

Color rushed into Lee's cheeks, and he instantly clamped his mouth shut. The kids followed his example when a loud shout snapped them back to the proceedings at hand.

"ENOUGH!"

Lady Jaya's voice rung out across the chamber like a thunderclap. King Goobot melted back into his chair beneath her furious stare.

"I do not care who you are back on your planet! Here in this room, you will follow MY rules. If I hear even one more insubordinate word leave your mouth, I will empty out your insides! Now be silent!"

Nobody dared to make eye contact with her, except Nav, who leaned back comfortably and smiled. "That's the spirit, love. You tell him." He put his feet up on the table one at a time, then began idly tugging on the silver earring he wore in one ear. "Now, while I've got your attention, would you mind telling me why I always get sandwiched between the two most outrageously boring hunks of meat to ever set foot on Gorlock soil? Surely there must be more entertaining company than the anorexic pink dwarf and the potato sack propped up against the table to my right!"

The hulking mass next to him emitted a low rumbling sound, somewhere between a gurgle and a growl.

Nav clasped his hands in mock delight. "Oh! He said his first words…I'm so proud!" He beckoned excitedly at Aurora. "Quick honey, write this down! Our precious bundle of delight spoke! His first word: "Glurg". You see? I knew he'd take after you!"

April covered a smile, and Aurora threw him a look of amused tolerance.

"That's enough of your humor, Nav," said Lady Jaya. "We have business to attend to."

He slammed his fist down on the table. "Ya people! This is a criminal organization for Christ's sake! Look sharp!" He leaned over and whispered to Aurora. "Mind telling me who this Christ character of yours is anyway? 'Cause he definitely isn't good enough for you, so stop seeing him."

Lady Jaya sunk into her chair, rubbing her temples. "This is going to be a long meeting…"

Hawk's voice reverberated out of his hood, a sort of rattling, hissing sound. "We need to discuss the issue of my payment. I refuse to cooperate further until I receive my money."

Nav nonchalantly tossed a pile of cash his way, and Hawk's clawed, wart-covered hand shot out to snatch the bills as they tumbled through the air like wayward leaves.

"That enough for ya?"

Eustace Strych began patting down his suit pockets, then looked up in astonishment. "Hey! That's my money! How did you…?"

His mouth refused to form the rest of the sentence, and Nav shrugged casually. "It's not like you're going to run out any time soon."

"But…"

"Shut yo mouth, foo!" growled Tee. "We got more important stuff to talk 'bout!"

"Ya, Strych," said Zix. "You're not the only one losing money here. I'd like to remind the council that we still haven't divvied up the profits from our last operation."

"And what about the proposal I submitted at our last meeting?" added Beautiful Gorgeous. "How much longer will you continue to ignore that? When I joined this organization, I expected an equal voice!"

Lady Jaya raised her palms in a gesture of pacification. "All in good time. Please, try to focus. Today's meeting is an important one. We're here today to confirm the details of the final attack on the Dictator. All other requests and questions will have to wait."

"Oh, it's always something, Lady Jaya," said Eustace. "Can't we ever discuss the issues WE want to talk about? I say we should postpone the attack a little longer. I have a big deal going down on one of the crime planets, and I'd like to finish up before starting a new project."

"Quiet, moneybags," scowled Beautiful, "the date of the final attack has already been postponed twice. There's no way we're postponing it again."

Pinxit joined in the conversation. It spoke in a cold hiss, drawing out each word into a breathless whisper. "Yess, ssooner iss betterrr. Thisss planettt doess not ssuit me. We mustt killll himmmm…"

"Majority rules," said Lady Jaya. "We have already taken a vote to confirm the date of the attack."

Aurora raised her hand tentatively, and Lady Jaya shot her a sharp glance. "You wish to speak, Aurora?"

"With your permission, Lady Jaya, I'd like to take a few minutes to go over the details again…personally."

Lady Jaya impatiently beckoned her to proceed. "Make it quick, human."

* * *

Looooots of information...hope this chapter wasn't too boring.

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	30. Tainted

Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime for more TOSOT!

* * *

**Chapter 30: _Tainted_**

Aurora pushed away from the table and stood, pausing to survey the faces of the council before she began. "Members of the High Council, esteemed colleagues —" she smiled cruelly at Eustace "— although I use the term "esteemed" in its loosest context."

It took a moment for said esteemed colleagues to process whether or not they'd been insulted.

"I want to pause for a minute, to take a closer look at the details of this mission. Let's start by examining the pure numerical data. Anyone want to venture a guess as to the number of ships that will be involved in the first strike against Dictator Jimmy's planet, as the figure currently stands?"

Goobot thought for a moment. "Somewhere between 15,000 and 16,000 I would presume. Maybe more. Why?"

"Just stay with me here. How many personnel would you expect to be involved in an attack of this magnitude, King Goobot?"

"Well, assuming each warship doesn't exceed its maximum load, probably 2 million, give or take."

"And Generals," continued Aurora, "given your knowledge of war tactics and your previous experience, what would you estimate the casualty rate to be?"

One of the Generals, the one with a huge scar running from his collarbone to his hairline, reached for a notebook tucked inside his armor. "Well, judging from the data we collected during past encounters with the Dictator…casualty rate around 70 percent, I would expect."

"Which equals…" she prompted.

"1.4 million dead in a single assault," said Nav. "That's astronomical, General."

"And your point is?" asked Lady Jaya.

Nav met her eyes levelly. "I believe this young lady is righteously questioning your plan."

Jaya's icy stare bore into Aurora. "Is this true?"

April answered for her, and Jaya looked over in surprise.

"We are not saying that your plan is not a good one. As any Gorlock knows, death is a part of war. If we had no other choice, then I would willingly vote to sacrifice the million if, by the Dictator's death, we could save the lives of countless others. But…what if nobody had to die?"

This last phrase captured the attention of the council.

"We are here today to propose a new plan. One with the potential to be equally effective, but one that has a casualty rate of zero if implemented correctly."

Lady Jaya settled back in her chair. "I am listening, April."

"Not to me. Aurora will be explaining the plan, since it was her idea."

Jimmy shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the words _her idea_. Jaya stared Aurora down, and the younger woman returned the favor. The power struggle lasted several seconds, then Jaya relaxed and motioned for her to go ahead.

"As you all know, our current plan involves an overtly hostile attack and counts on superior numbers to bring us victory. Best case scenario: we win, with massive casualties. Worst case, he vaporizes us all before we even get close enough to attempt a strike. We'll basically be providing his orbital security system with a bit of target practice. It'll be a game of who gets blown up and who manages to sneak by long enough to cause some damage before they, too, get blown up." She paused to let this sink in. "We're playing this one too close to the rulebook. I know Gorlock tradition: two armies fight to the last man standing. But his entire fortress is designed to withstand the very type of large scale attack that we're planning. We need to think differently…play on his weaknesses. He's sadistic and arrogant, and he thinks that…"

Jaya waved an impatient hand. "I know you fancy yourself to be an expert on the Dictator," she said scornfully, "but we are not here to listen to your psychological profile. If you have a plan, I want concrete details and a damn good reason why I should even _consider_ changing our battle strategy this late in the game."

Aurora struggled to keep her anger in check. "My plan…that is, _our_ plan, is covert and under the radar - and if it works, it will achieve the council's unifying goal of eliminating the danger the Dictator poses to the galaxy. What I need is a small, well-trained team that can take a few tiny ships and slip past his defenses. And, as some of the most dangerous criminals around today, you people are the most qualified for the job. I've come here today to ask for the council's support to successfully complete this operation."

"Which is…?" asked Lady Jaya impatiently.

"It's pretty unorthodox, I'll admit, but it all revolves around one simple fact. Many of you aren't aware of this, but the Dictator's behavior is caused by a biochemical agent known as _Megalomanium_. Before coming in contact with it ten years ago he was…an entirely different person." Aurora pulled out the antidote from a strap under her wrist communicator. "One vial of this distilled antidote will be enough to put an end to all of this. It will, in effect, kill the Dictator without killing Neutron. _Nobody_ has to die."

There was a moment of intense silence, then the entire council broke out into a tidal wave of protests, accusations, and obscene language.

"Calm down!" shouted Aurora over the uproar. "Just hear me out! Think about the lives that could be saved, the money that could be saved…"

Jaya leaned forward slowly, her words clipped and abrasive. "Do I understand, human, that you just wasted the council's time with a harebrained scheme to let our greatest enemy GO FREE? After all he has done? Is this some kind of joke?"

Nav interjected. "I think we should listen to her, Grandma. As far as I'm concerned, a covert option is the way to go. Let's think about it, shall we? 1.4 million dead versus zero dead…hmm…"

"I suppose the idea itself is sound..." considered Beautiful Gorgeous.

Murmurs wound their way around the room as the allies discussed Aurora's plan.

"But we've already conscripted mercenaries and acquired the supplies…" came Goobot's voice.

Eustace fanned himself with a 100 dollar bill. "Still, it certainly would be easier to give him this antidote than to actually kill him."

"We couldd alwayss killl himm laterr…" said Pinxit.

Lady Jaya slammed her fist down on the corner of the table, sending a web of cracks scurrying across the surface.

"_SILENCE_! I do not want to hear ONE more word out of ANYONE until I make something very clear! Aurora, this plan of yours is dangerously close to treason. I am shocked that you would even _for a second_ entertain the notion that the Dictator's life should be spared. What is his life worth after all the billions he's taken? No, I will not rest until I personally see to it that every last drop of blood is emptied from his veins." She turned to April. "April, I am extremely disappointed that you would support such utter and complete lunacy. I know that you think Aurora is your friend, but you owe it to your _people_ to put our interests first. And Nav? Siding with Aurora on this one is taking things too far, even for you."

"Lady Jaya, I…"

The Gorlock cut Aurora off. She crooked an accusing finger in the pilot's direction.

"If I were you, _human_, I would shut my mouth and sit quiet. If your sole aim here was to save lives, then your plan might seem admirable, if a bit foolish. But I wonder about you…weren't you always the first to jump at the opportunity to take revenge on the Dictator? What is responsible for this sudden change in attitude, eh? Now listen, and listen clearly, because I am going to be perfectly honest with you. Frankly, you are lucky to still be on the council at all. I wanted you removed immediately after you "mysteriously" escaped from the Dictator's custody, but April would not have it. I see now that I should have followed my instincts."

Aurora dug her nails into the edges of the stone table.

"The whole situation is suspicious, as far as I'm concerned. Nobody has EVER gotten so close to the Dictator and lived to tell about it. Why should you be an exception? Obviously, he LET you escape. For all I know, you're just another part of his plan, a walking bag of flesh and bones programmed to serve his needs. You are tainted, Aurora. So I suggest you shut that human mouth of yours before I do what I should have done three years ago, and throw you off the council."

Aurora almost lost it. Her whole upper body burst into dazzling flame, and she hurled a bolt straight into the wall behind Lady Jaya's left shoulder. Aurora gasped for breath as chunks of rubble fell from the steaming hole, and she snapped her arm in Jaya's direction, murder burning in her eyes.

"_YOU_!"

April immediately jumped up to restrain her friend, and Nav followed close behind. Aurora, however, managed to get herself under control before they could intervene, and she waved them both away. Aurora leaned over the table for a moment, steadying herself. Nav laid a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"That was a pretty personal dig, Grandma," said Nav. "Harsh, even by my deviously criminal standards. To tell you the truth, I'm amazed by Aurora's self-restraint. I half expected her to take your head off just now."

Without warning, Aurora whirled and punched Nav in the stomach, hard. He grunted and stumbled back a step, holding his abdomen in pain.

"What was that for?" he groaned.

"Sorry, I needed to punch something. I knew you wouldn't mind."

"Ugh…glad I could be…of service…"

Jaya's sharp voice brought them back to the situation at hand. "Well, human, are you done? I'll forgive you this once, as I understand that these kind of emotional episodes are a weakness of your species. Now, what do you say you hand over that little vial, and we will forget this whole thing ever happened?"

Aurora's entire body quivered with suppressed rage, and the older woman's lips twisted into an arrogant smile.

"Come now, Aurora," she said with false sweetness. "This sort of childish behavior is unsuitable to a pilot of your caliber. Now, hand over the vial."

"As you wish, highness."

Aurora flicked the vial from her hand, and it spun across the table, coming to a rest in front of the High Council leader.

Jaya pocketed it. "There, was that so hard?"

Back in the rows of spectators, Lee and his charges watched the altercation in stunned silence.

Jimmy stared numbly. "I…I can't believe that just happened."

"I know, right?" said Sheen. "Aurora just got _served_! I've never seen anybody shut down like that!"

"Ugh, I can't believe her!" said Cindy. "Is she just giving up? If I were her, I'd punch that green witch right in the face!"

"First of all," clarified Jimmy, "you _are_ her, and second of all, she's not giving up. The council has no idea that we have two extra antidotes stored inside Goddard. Now that she's handed over hers, they'll have no reason to suspect her of any hidden agenda. Everything will go ahead as planned." He steepled his fingers, peering out at her from over the ridge-line of his fingertips. "It's the best strategy, given the circumstances. At this point, just be grateful that the entire plan didn't tumble down around our ears."

At the conference table, Aurora's manner transformed. The grin she gave Lady Jaya was decisively predatory. "Of course, Lady Jaya. You're right. Please, go on. I want to hear all the details of the attack so I can do everything in my power to keep the people I care about safe."

"Still, Lady Jaya," said Goobot, "perhaps there is some wisdom in her approach? Instead of giving him the antidote, we could…"

"ENOUGH! Not another word! I cannot believe you…all of you! Have you all lost your minds? The battle is going ahead as planned. End of discussion. Do I make myself clear? And do not get any more bright ideas, because I will personally shoot the next person who opens their mouth on this matter!" The finality of this proclamation hung heavy in the air, and the flustered Lady Jaya took her seat, face red with exertion. "Now let's finish this accursed meeting!"

Twenty awkward minutes later, the council came to an end, and the assembly filtered out of the chamber one by one. Aurora brushed a sweat-drenched lock of hair from her forehead as she and April joined their guests just outside the room. Lee gazed down at the floor, unusually quiet as the group convened.

"Oh, this is Nav…" Aurora said absently.

The tall blonde man appeared behind her, waving like a gleeful toddler. He slipped his mechanical arm under April's bottom, then lifted her into the air. He held her aloft in one cupped palm, and she patted his head.

"This show-off is my fiancé , Nav Aksha'at."

"Lee told us," said Future Libby.

"Oh?" April blinked. "He did…? But I hadn't told anyone except Aurora and…whoa!"

Nav set April back down again, a little too quickly for her comfort, and then tugged on Aurora's ponytail. "So, how's my favorite smart-mouthed ace pilot doing these days?"

Aurora didn't seem to notice his question. "Nav, April, these are…oh, I mean Nav, April already knows…Nav, these are our visitors, the…the uh…"

She snapped her fingers distractedly, trying to recall their false name. Jimmy supplied it for her.

"Alternatelings?"

"There we go. And uh, the taller one there is my human friend, Libby."

"We've already met," smiled Nav.

"We…have?"

Nav uncurled his fingers and displayed a treasure trove of golden jewelry. Future Libby gasped as her hand strayed to the empty holes in her ears.

"How did you…?" Her cheeks lost their rosy glow, and her glance shot down to her left ring finger. She held out her hand pleadingly. "You can keep the rest, just please…give me back my ring?"

Nav's brows knit together, and he hastily returned the stolen items. "I didn't mean to upset you," he apologized. "I wasn't planning on keeping them, honest."

She slid the ring back onto her finger and re-fastened her earrings before attempting a forgiving smile. "It's OK, I just had a bit of freakout out there for a second."

"So..." he began, "what's so important about that little circlet of gold? Is it a wedding band? Engagement?"

She twisted the ring on her finger, admiring the ribbons of light that slid across the surface. "No, betrothal, actually."

"Ah. And who's the lucky guy?"

"Well, he doesn't actually know. You see, I haven't seen him in ten years. Matter o' fact, I don't even know if he's alive anymore."

Nav's stunned expression gave way to laughter, and he clapped a friendly hand around her shoulder before jerking a thumb in Aurora's direction. "Ha ha! I like this chick, Aurora! She's almost as nuts as you are."

Sheen's voice shot up from below. "Oh, and what are we, chopped jalapeños?"

"Whoa, hello! It talks!" He bent down to Sheen's level and extended his hand for a shake. "Put 'er there, little man. Nice to meet you…uh…what did you call yourselves again? Alternatelings? Apologies for not recognizing your species, but I don't believe I've ever stolen anything from your kind before. That's usually how I keep track of things." He scanned their faces in amusement, then suddenly did a double-take when he got to Cindy. "Whoa! This one's got your eyes, Aurora. You been off hybridizing with aliens again?"

When Aurora made no reply, he looked up. "Aurora, you OK? Normally a remark like that would have incited a laugh, or at least earned me an annoyed punch in the arm. What's wrong?"

Aurora gripped her own arm tightly, her gaze darting around the hallway. "I'm sorry…I…we…have a lot to talk…um? April, why don't you take Nav and our guests back to the encampment. I'm uh…going to the lake for a little while. I'll meet up with you later. I…I…need to think about…some things."

She turned and walked away, tripping over her own feet a little, like one lost in a dream.

Nav watched her go. "OK, that was weird. I haven't seen her that bad since…well, you know."

"A lot more happened in that council chamber than you realize," said April. "Because of Jaya's decision, Aurora now has a great challenge ahead of her. Come on, Nav. Let's get out of earshot of this place. I have some important things to tell you."

Lee melted into the shadows as the group prepared to leave. He observed them in silence, loneliness manifest in his expression. April scanned the room from side to side, looking for him.

"Lee? Where did you go?"

He perked up at the sound and stepped into her line of vision.

"Lee? Oh! There you are. I have just had an idea. I would like you to help us with something... but be warned, you may face dire consequences if our plan goes awry. It is up to you. I will not put you into harm's way unless you agree to this. Would you be willing to help us?"

"If you need me," he answered, with feeling. "I will be there."

"Good. We will get going then. It will be dark soon."

April led the group down the misty corridor and out of the capitol building. They stood at the very summit of the hill, gazing down at the endless miles of rolling jungle. The air was sweltering, heavy with impending rain. Towering cloud-columns marched across the sky in a stately procession, creeping closer to Nuku with each passing moment.

Nav looked up. "Hoo-rah, more rain. Just what we needed. All right, April, let's get the critters down to the encampment before we all end up drenched."

The assemblage struck out across the plain, monitoring the thickening cloud cover as they went. The red lake came into view, and Future Libby peered out across the swampy inlet, searching. The nearer they drew to camp, the more Future Libby hung back, until she at last spotted what she was looking for. There on the shore, silhouetted against the crimson waves of the lake, stood a figure clad in blue and silver.

"Guys, if it's OK, I'm gonna catch up with you later." The others glanced back at her questioningly, and she quickly waved away their concern. "Don't worry. I'll meet you back at camp, I promise. Just keep going without me!"

She turned and scrambled off at a near run, attention fixed on the woman far away on the shore.

"What are you doin' there all by yourself, Aurora?" she thought.

* * *

I'm so cruel to my characters.

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	31. Tears of Rain

This chappie is dedicated to Emily...you'll always be MY Future Libby. -heart-

Accompanying pic: acaciathorn. dev iant art(dotcom)/art/Friends-Always-179543153

* * *

**Chapter 31: Tears of Rain**

Aurora stood on the edge of the Red Lake, the heavy jungle breathing all around her. She stared out at the calm water, her face expressionless. Her hair hung limply over her shoulders, as still as if it made of stone. Even as heavy raindrops began to fall, she remained motionless.

"Aurora? Can you hear me?"

Future Libby appeared behind her, holding a large leaf over her head to ward off the downpour. She hurried over to her friend through the curtain of rain, sidestepping puddles and rocks as she went.

"Aurora, it's startin' to pour here. Maybe you better come back to camp. Hey, Aurora…you listenin'?"

Future Libby approached cautiously, and Aurora jumped a little when her friend laid a hand on her shoulder. She met Future Libby's eyes for a moment then, blinking rapidly, returned her gaze to the lake. Raindrops landed on her eyelashes and slid down her face like tears, catching in the corners of her mouth before dripping off her chin.

"Aurora?"

"Libby," murmured Aurora absently, "do you remember all the things we used to say when we were kids? All the things we planned to do?"

Future Libby regarded Aurora for a pensive moment before setting down her leaf umbrella on a small boulder. She settled onto it and drew her knees to her chest.

"I think so," she replied softly. "But we said lots of things."

"I keep thinking about all the stuff we planned to do…all the things we took for granted that we'd do." Water droplets streamed down Aurora's arms and dripped from her fingertips, as if from fingers carved of stone. "We never got to go to our high school prom…you know? I remember how I used to imagine what my dress would look like — I could picture myself on the dance floor, spinning, twirling, laughing — I felt so beautiful. Who knows how many hours I spent daydreaming about it. It's funny how dreams are. When you're young, you don't stop to think that they might not come true. But I guess it doesn't matter. Still, I think about it sometimes."

She paused for a moment. "You know, not once in these past ten years has anyone ever called me beautiful."

She turned her head a little, and a piece of sodden hair worked itself loose from her ponytail and tumbled down. Future Libby waited patiently for her friend to continue.

"I never got to learn to drive…or save up for my first car…or run my first red light. None of it. I remember — I think it was when we were trying to save Jimmy and Sheen from the League of Villains — you told me that if I somehow managed to get my driver's license, you were 'taking the bus'. I remember getting this hilarious image in my head of you in the back seat of my car, holding on for dear life as I went careening down the road. We never got to grow up together, Libby. I always thought we would. I always thought we'd roll down the windows of our first car and feel the wind in our hair, while blasting the radio as loud as we could and singing along with our favorite songs. Always."

"Aurora…I…"

Future Libby reached out, but Aurora cut her off. "We were cheated out of so many rites of passage, so many firsts. In place of what should be happy memories is something else entirely…" Aurora's shoulders began to tremble, and she wrapped her arms around herself. "I thought our first kiss was supposed to be wonderful…I thought I'd be able to tell you all about it. Now I can't. I _can't_. I thought we were supposed to fall in love, to share secrets, and to comfort each other. Oh God Libby, don't you understand? We'll never get to see what it feels like to finish high school, or to go to college, or to buy our first house, or to get married. We'll never get to have kids or get to watch the looks on our parents' faces when they meet their grandchildren for the first time. I never got to tell my Mom how much I loved her. Everyone we ever knew, all the things we ever said, all the plans we ever made — they're all gone."

There was a tremendous silence, and Aurora lifted one hand and gingerly wiped a drop of rain from her cheek. When she spoke, her voice was soft and gentle.

"Why?" She turned quickly and gazed straight at Future Libby. Her eyes shone clear and bright from under her glistening eyelashes. She blinked, and another stream danced down her face. "Why, Libby? That's all I want to know."

Future Libby's eyebrows knitted together as she gazed up at the woman before her, a soldier made of crystal light in the falling rain.

"I don't know the answer to that, Aurora. I don't think anyone does. But if the monks taught me anythin', it's this: if we spend our lives wonderin' why bad things happen, then we'll miss out on all the good things that happen too. What you went through was awful, and I'm not tryin' to tell you it wasn't. But somethin' good happened too...you lived. You might not have got to go to Prom or get your first car, but Aurora, you got a spaceship instead. You've seen things and traveled to places that most people could never even imagine. And you might not think you have a future, but I'm not ready to give up. There's still a chance for me, Aurora, and there's still a chance for you."

Aurora reached up and touched her own face, as if recognizing her thoughts for the first time. "I'm…I'm…_scared._ I'm afraid of what might happen."

"We're all afraid, Aurora. But we keep on goin', if not for ourselves, then for the people we love."

"Tch, people we love…" her voice cracked bitterly.

"Life isn't always easy to understand. People die, sad things happen, but we learn to make new friends and to care about new people. We don't forget about the ones we've lost, but we don't die with them either. Instead, we keep livin' for the friends that we do have. The people we love aren't all gone, Aurora. I see one of them standin' right in front of me."

Aurora raised her gaze to meet Libby's.

"You know," she continued, "it's not a crime to feel. We all get scared, we all feel sad, and we all cry. It's no big deal."

"Libby…"

"We might not have gotten to go to high school or college, and we might not have gotten to ride together in our first car. But who's to know if we'd have been happy doin' those things anyway? There's no way to know what _would_ have happened or what _could _have happened. There's only what DID happen, and while it might not seem like it, it's not all bad. We still have each other. And in the end, isn't that better than what a lot of people have? All I know is that I'll be here for you no matter what, and when it comes down to it, that's what counts. No matter what happens, no matter what you say or do, I'll still be your friend. Always."

Aurora bit her lip as her eyes flooded with emotion. Future Libby seemed to radiate warmth, so that even under the dark clouds and the torrents of rain, she appeared elegant and bright. She leaned forward.

"And Aurora…nobody may have told you this, but you _are_ beautiful."

Aurora seemed to break at these words, and with a cry she threw her head back and burst into despairing tears. Thrown by the force of her own emotion, she staggered backward as her foot slid in a patch of mud. Leg smeared with dirt, soaked to the bone, and shaking visibly, she hung in this unbalanced pose. Slowly, painfully, she pulled herself upright, then met her friend's sympathetic eyes. With a choked sob she dove at Future Libby, who pulled Aurora into a comforting embrace. She wept violently as Future Libby held her, her cries muffled in the crook of her friend's shoulder. After a time her loud sobbing became quieter, until her tears mixed with the raindrops in silence. Neither of the women moved, until at last Aurora straightened, sniffling and wiping her eyes.

"I'm sorry…I'm so pathetic."

Future Libby's smile was kind. "Don't be sorry, hun. And you're not pathetic. You needed that."

Aurora, somewhat embarrassed, pulled away and settled herself onto the boulder. She wiped her nose. "It's just…all this is hitting me so hard. I've always been able to hold it in, you know? I've always been able to overlook all the awful things that happened. I managed to keep the emotions in check. But today I felt something different, something worse. Libby, I'm terrified of what might happen — I'm afraid of what I might lose tomorrow."

"Oh?"

"I dared to hope that the council might get on board with Jimmy's antidote plan. I thought we'd get the support that we so badly needed. But as usual, hope was too good to be true. Now we're completely on our own. Our little group of desperadoes is going to have to take on the most powerful man in the galaxy, all by ourselves. It's so scary to think about what's at stake."

She reached absently for Future Libby's hand.

"For the past ten years, each new morning felt like the start of a game of Russian roulette. New day, load the gun, spin the chamber, pull the trigger…and wait to see who dies. But even so, I had this weird sense of invulnerability. No matter how many were claimed by the war, no matter how many of our allies died in the fighting, April and I always came out victors in the end. The people who died were aliens, blank faces, numbers…as unrelated to me as the farthest star in the farthest galaxy. I had this idea that April and I were somehow the best of the best, and that no matter how bad things got for others, we couldn't be touched. It happened so many times I got into a pattern…until that nightmarish day three years ago when I was captured. And even then, against all those odds, I managed to make it out alive. So you see, through all the battles I've fought, through all the close calls I've had, there was never anything at stake except my own life…so somehow it didn't seem so bad. It was Aurora against the world. It was Aurora against the Dictator."

Future Libby opened her mouth to say something, but Aurora cut her off.

"But tomorrow things will be completely different. This isn't April and me we're talking about here, charging out onto the front lines and blasting the heck out of anything that comes our way. This isn't my life at stake. It's all of yours. I'm taking the people I love most in this world and leading them into a deathtrap. I don't think you understand the danger of what we're getting into. I'm sickened by the thought of what might happen. I'm responsible for you, for April, for Nav, and for the lives of five children. I could lose the people I care most about all over again. Losing the kids would be like a repeat of what happened ten years ago: unimaginable, horrifying. But losing you would be even worse. That would be it for me: two lives taken for the price of one."

Aurora dropped Future Libby's hand and looked over at the lake.

"And what's worse, I have this horrible feeling that we're not going to be able to pull this off without losing somebody. I'm playing the game of Russian roulette again…and I keep thinking: who will die so that the others can live? I'm terrified, Libby, because the first rule of war is very simple. Someone _always_ dies."

There was a moment of dreadful silence, then Aurora abruptly pushed away from the rock and stood.

"Enough. This isn't the time to be going all to pieces. Now is the time to plan. Every single one of us is going to need every ounce of our wits, strength, and resolve if we're going to make it through this. There's no room for emotions. There's no room for mistakes. There's no room for anything. Now Libby, are you with me?"

Future Libby laid her hand on Aurora's. "To the end."

"Then let's get back to camp. We have a lot to do."

* * *

I think we'd all like a bff like Future Libs...someone who will be there for us even when we're sobbing about existential issues on a rainforest planet. ;)

I'd love to hear your reactions to this chapter, as always.

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	32. Six Stars at Twilight

Hey guys! Sorry about the huge delay. College has started up again, and I'm taking more classes than last semester, plus I've joined 2 or 3 new activities. Then there's been the mess with the election...Ho Boy.

Anyway, here's the chappie illustration for this one (as always, remove the spaces and substitute the . and com): ww w. idreamofjimmy(dotcom)/Fanart/Mara sixstars attwilight . jpg

Enjoy the installment! It's a long one!

* * *

**Chapter 30: Six Stars at Twilight**

By the time that Aurora and Future Libby got back to camp, the rain had abated. The clouds continued their lumbering march into the horizon, and the mountains bathed in the sun's retreating light. Aurora's walk was tired but determined as she and Libby arrived at the first of the metal huts.

Jimmy rushed over to meet them, relieved. "Aurora! Libby! Where have you been? We were starting to get worried."

"Touching," she said sarcastically, "but you shouldn't be wasting your energy worrying about me. I just needed some down time."

"Hmm. Battle fatigue?"

"Something like that. Now, where is everyone?"

In response, Nav burst out of one of the tents, swerving and nearly tripping over his gray overcoat. April followed, and the other kids trailed behind her like ducklings.

"Aurora," cried Nav, pulling on his hair, "they've fried my cerebral cortex! I mean…alternate universes? Megalomanium? Time dilation? ULTRALORD? This is killin' me!"

Aurora crossed her arms and raised a tawny eyebrow. "Aha. I see April gave you a briefing."

"Hardly! There was nothing _brief_ about it. This whole thing is ridiculous. I mean, every time I look down I see miniature versions of you and the Dictator scurrying underfoot! He's not too bad – he doesn't look much like his older self. But you - it's just plain creepy."

Aurora clapped a hand over his mouth, hissing in his ear. "Shove a lid on it Nav, someone will hear! Are you really that dense? We're trying to keep this whole 'alternate universe' thing under wraps, remember?"

Nav raised his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. "Have you no faith in me? I'm wounded, Aurora. But never fear. That Lee character told the villagers that there's a rogue boar rampaging on the far side of the lake."

"''That Lee character?'" repeated April, planting a fist on one hip.

"Ya ya. Anyway, the whole camp's gone out to search for the thing. Lee will make sure they KEEP searching for it for a couple more hours so we can get ourselves in order."

"In that case," said Aurora, "we should get down to business ASAP. Are you _sure_ we're the only ones here?"

"Positive, your majesty," replied Nav, curtsying.

"As positive as you were the time you insisted that grenade was defused…you know, the one that took off your arm?"

"Ouch. Touché."

Aurora turned away. "Anyway, before we digress even further, I left some things in the _Desperado_ that I think we'll need. April, you and I should take Tolly back to the shipyard and pick up everything, because I don't think we'll get another chance. Then I'll need twenty minutes to plan. After that, we'll meet up here at the fire pit. Take the time to clear your minds and focus yourselves. Every single one of us will need to be prepared if we're going to make it out of this alive."

"Aurora," said Future Libby, "can I come with you an' April back to the ship?"

"I don't see why not. Nav, do you think you're capable of watching the kids while we're gone?"

"News flash," said Cindy, "we don't need to be 'watched'. We've taken care of ourselves just fine so far. We're not infants, you know."

"OK, let me rephrase. Kids, do you think you're capable of watching Nav while we're gone?"

Nav dragged a huge pelt of some kind from inside Bilka's hut and dumped it by the fire, then cast himself onto it with a sigh.

"No worries. I'm sure we'll keep each other entertained. Maybe I'll tell them about the time my ship blew up, and I survived by sealing myself inside the refrigerator…"

Aurora rolled her eyes. "God forbid. Let's get out of here before we hear THAT one again."

"Aww," moped April, hanging back. "I kind of like that story…"

"NOW, April."

The Gorlock woman placed two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. An earsplitting shriek pierced the air, and a moment later dirt clods and shredded vegetation erupted from the jungle along with the scaled warthog. The ridge of bristles along its back stood on end, and it bared its yellowed fangs at the group in unrestrained hatred.

"Oh, chill out you stupid animal," said Aurora, taking the reins.

The warthog bucked, and Aurora struggled to keep her grip. April slammed her fist into the creature's head, and it quickly ceased its protests. She vaulted onto the animal's back, and Aurora and Future Libby climbed up behind her.

April waved to Nav. "We will be back soon."

She dug her heels into Tolly's sides, and the beast streaked off into the jungle. Nav kicked off his boots, and they sailed through the air and crashed into a pile of kindling. The five kids turned to face the robotic man in unison, their synchronization broken only by the range of expressions crossing their faces. Sheen grinned wildly, Carl seemed distracted by a fly-like creature buzzing around his head. Cindy scanned him from bottom to top, openly and blatantly scornful. Unaware of their attention, Nav fumbled with a couple of screws near the top of his left arm, and it detached from his shoulder.

"Waaaaaahhhhhhh!" screeched Carl. "His arm fell off!"

"Relax, chubby lumpkins. It's a back-scratcher. See?" He gripped the detached limb in his right hand and demonstrated. "Perfect for those hard-to-reach spots."

Libby giggled. "You're a real weirdo, ya know that?"

"I'll say! You're my kind of man!" Sheen leaped onto the unidentified pelt as Nav screwed his arm back into place. "You're like the big brother I never had!"

Nav ruffled Sheen's spiky hair. "And you're like the hyperactive, obnoxious little brother that I never had!"

Cindy turned up her nose. "You're related, all right."

Nav grinned and patted her head. "Same old grumpy. You're so cute."

She closed one eye and squinted up at him with the other, grumbling under her breath.

"So," said Nav, sitting up. "You've all managed to land yourselves in a very strange situation. A child genius with a robotic dog and his friends inadvertently launch themselves into an alternate universe and meet up with their future selves…now THAT'S a new one." The smile lines around his mouth receded, and his gray eyes grew sad. He rolled over onto his back and glanced at them, upside down. The firelight danced over his face, which suddenly seemed drawn and tired. "You kids are dangerous. Scary, isn't it?"

The gang took half a step back in surprise, and Cindy's startled expression gave way to a scowl.

"Look who's talking. You're the big-shot criminal here."

"She's right," said Jimmy. "What _is_ your story anyway?"

"You want the whole thing?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's a long and convoluted tale, full of intrigue and mayhem, but if you insist…Ahem. It all started 26 years ago on Numeria, when my parents were feeling especially romantic one night…"

Libby waved frantically. "OK! I don't think we need to go THAT far back. How did you meet April an' Aurora, and when did you become a…what was it called?"

"Samarkandi?" provided Jimmy.

"There we go."

"Heh. About that. We met 6 years ago, but I didn't become one of the Seven Samarkandi until I turned 21. It took some pretty outrageous heists to earn me that status, let me tell you…"

Nav rested his hand on his cheek, his face radiant with hidden thoughts. "Actually, I met Aurora first. The crazy chick blew up my ship after I siphoned off some of her fuel during a reconnaissance mission above some uninhabited planet. I don't particularly remember the details, considering I was marginally stressed out over the complete and total vaporization of my personal property. But Aurora, being the caring and warm individual that she is, managed to fish me out of the wreckage and take me prisoner." He laughed lightly before continuing. "Despite the rather hasty circumstances of our introduction, we quickly got to know each other. Well, she got to know me at any rate, considering her effective and rather inventive methods of interrogation. After it became clear to her that I wasn't a threat, I was given free range of the ship…but was treated with cold indifference. I didn't realize it at the time, but the so called 'uninhabited planet' had actually been the scene of a massacre just days before. The entire population had just vanished into thin air. Apparently the resistance gave Aurora the task of monitoring the place for the next couple of weeks. Man, I've never seen anybody so hell-bent on a mission before. It was intense."

He shook his head, as if to rid himself of the memory. "At any rate, I found myself cooped up with a stern-eyed, pouty-lipped 15 year old, and being young and rather hormonally charged, I couldn't help but be completely captivated by her. Her strength, her resolve, and that air of wistfulness that lay under all her actions…ah! She was almost mystical. And of course it didn't help that she was practically the world's most dangerous pilot. I was totally head over heels."

He heaved a sigh, and Jimmy seized the opportunity to object. "Wait a second!..."

"No, no," insisted Nav, stopping him in mid-protest. "Let me finish before you ask questions, or I'll just have to repeat myself. Anyway, it soon became blindingly clear to me that Aurora was – how shall I put it – unavailable. Meaning she punched me full in the face when I tried to put a move on her. The only thing she cared about was her mission…her all-consuming desire for revenge. Even now, it's what motivates her. She won't stop until she either kills him or she has him. It's like the two of them are joined by some sort of twisted, mutually destructive bond. I just can't understand it…"

His gaze wandered off into the distance. Finally he forced a smile. "Aurora was the one who introduced me to April. It wasn't exactly love at first sight. When we first met, she was a lanky, oppositional teenager with a killer right hook and perpetual helmet-hair. Frankly, I didn't know what to make of her. Yet, as time passed, I found myself spending more and more time with her. We consistently ran into each other on missions, and when I wasn't stealing my weight in priceless artifacts, I was passing the time in her company. I could act like a total idiot around her, and she wouldn't hold it against me. And when I got myself into more trouble than I could handle, she was the one who bailed me out. I came to rely on her in a way I had never relied on anyone. So I guess you could say that Aurora was the one who brought me into all of this, but April was the one who kept me here."

Libby didn't bother to hide her satisfied smile. "I thought there was somethin' funny going on between you an' Aurora."

"Key word there: was. And it was entirely one-sided, so it doesn't really matter. Still, don't bring it up around April…the subject's always been a bit touchy."

April's voice came out of nowhere. "Don't bring up what around me?"

"That I think you should grow your hair out longer," Nav answered smoothly.

April emerged from the foliage, leading Tolly by the reins. "Ugh, Nav, we've been over this. Long hair is a sign of rank; I can not just grow it out anytime I please."

"Then you'll just have to kick some serious backside and rise up in the ranks."

April smiled in response, and Future Libby jumped down from Tolly. Aurora followed, carrying dozens of papers, maps, logbooks and scrolls. She headed over to a flat rock beside the fire pit, and the others gathered around her.

"What are those?" asked Jimmy.

"What do they look like? They're my case files…they contain all the information that I've collected on the Dictator over the past ten years. They're the key to our battle strategy."

He scratched his head. "If you don't mind my asking…Why so primitive? This _is_ the future. Shouldn't all that data be categorized and put onto some high-tech hand held device so you can easily access the files? You know, criminal profile, fortress schematics…that kind of thing."

She slammed the whole pile down onto the rock, then wiped the sweat off her forehead."Nothing digital is safe. Anything that's on a computer can be hacked. The second this stuff gets converted into binary, it's easy prey…it wouldn't take more than a few minutes for DJ to zap every last 1 and 0..." She trailed off, then dropped her face into her palm. "Oh God...now I'm saying it too..."

"Aha!" exulted Sheen. "Victory at last! The DJ revolution cannot be stopped!"

"_Anyway,"_ she continued forcibly, "even if he didn't zap the data, somebody else could hack into the files and steal all the information that I've risked my life to obtain. These days, paper is a lot safer than computers. The things written here are for my eyes only. I have more accurate information about his habits, his past record, and his base than the Galactic Police and the Gorlock High Council combined."

She leaned forward and rested her head in her hands. "Ugh, and now I've only got a few hours to cram ten years worth of notes into your heads." She paused for a moment, then took a deep breath and began. "Dictator Jimmy's fortress is located on P24-505, an uninhabited planet on the far edge of the spiral arm. The planet is covered in a shallow, warm ocean that extends across its entire surface. There are no land masses."

Jimmy frowned. "But then how…"

"The Dictator's fortress is under water. The structure is submerged 100 feet beneath the surface of the tropical sea. The water adds an extra layer of protection and makes infiltration difficult, since most spacecraft aren't waterproof and few intelligent life-forms can breathe under water. It also protects against remote gunfire for those who actually manage to breach the global defense system."

"Wow," marveled Libby, "a fortress hidden under the water. Kind of like the lost city of Atlantis. Except, you know...evil."

Aurora fiddled with the tiny communicator on her wrist, and a holographic image of the planet sprung to life. "This is a 3-D representation of P24-505 from the Galactic Planetary Database. As you can see, there are no moons, and the absence of a tide makes the ocean very different from Earth's. Little is known about the creatures that live there…the only documented organisms are some phytoplankton, a few species of jellyfish, and a predatory animal that resembles a giant Planarian."

"Pla-whatywhat?" said Sheen.

"Planarian…" corrected Jimmy. "It's a microscopic organism found on Earth. But that's not important. Please, go on…"

"There are two distinct levels of security surrounding the base. The first is the global – or orbital – defense system. As its name implies, the orbital system extends from the exosphere and out a million miles in all directions, completely surrounding the planet." She chose a scroll from the pile and unfurled it. The diagram inside, which was sketched in red and blue pen, showed the outline of the planet and a mesh-like shield around it. "The mesh sphere you see represents the orbital defense. First off, there's a tightly-packed, magnetized minefield which is designed to prevent large ships or fleets of ships from getting close. Interspersed in the mine field are dozens of artificially generated, miniature black holes. The Dictator controls them by partially shifting them into another dimension. They only suck in matter if their trans-dimensional generator is disabled – which happens when a spacecraft gets too close. The only way to get through the field is with a few very small ships and some intense maneuvering."

She closed the scroll, then selected another one. This one contained a drawing of an odd machine shaped like the tip of an arrow. "As you make your way through the minefield, you have to deal with these little buggers. I call them seeker drones. They continually circle the planet in erratic orbits as they monitor the nearby space for any thermal or nuclear signatures that might indicate the presence of a ship. Once a drone detects an invader, it changes direction and heads for the source in exactly the same manner as a heat-seeking missile. If it hits you, it's curtains for everybody."

She tossed aside the diagram and fished out a piece of paper from one of the folders. She opened it, revealing a detailed depiction of an elegant, deadly-looking spaceship. "This is perhaps the most dangerous part of the orbital defense system. This is the Dictator's personal spacecraft, the _Half Life_."

"_Half Life_?" repeated Cindy.

Aurora nodded. "The name has a double meaning. It refers to the property of nuclear decay in radioactive isotopes, but at the same time hints at the untimely death of its victims. Some people have theorized that "Half Life" could be an ironic statement on the part of the Dictator about his own existence, but I doubt it. At any rate, the ship orbits the planet right near the exosphere and can pinpoint a speck of dust approaching if it needs to. The _Half Life_ has destroyed whole planets, so it should be…interesting trying to slip by undetected."

She replaced the drawing inside the folder, then paused to stretch her arms. "Any questions before we move on to the internal defense system?"

Her audience stared back at her in stunned silence.

"Good. Because the internal defense is infinitely more complex than the orbital."

Jimmy let out a small moan. "You can't be serious. How are we going to pull this off?"

"Can it, Neutron," snapped Cindy. "It was your big brain that got everyone into this mess in the first place, and it'll take your big brain to get us out again."

Aurora removed a tattered sheet from among the others. It contained a messily-drawn schematic labeled with scribbled notes and mathematical symbols. The structure depicted vaguely resembled an asymmetrical, five-pointed snowflake.

"This is what the actual base looks like. Well, it's an approximation at any rate. I had to draw it from memory, so it's a bit incomplete. Let me explain the layout. The base consists of a central 'hub' with five self-contained arms branching off of it. The five arms are labeled sectors 1-5." She indicated the uppermost point of the star-shaped building. "This is sector 1, and it contains the Dictator's personal quarters and an extensive laboratory. Continuing clockwise around the base are sectors 2-5. Sector 2 has two levels. The lower level contains the prison, and the upper level contains a secondary lab for…live experimentation. Sector 3 was incomplete at the time I was held captive. I have no idea what it's being used for now. Sector 4 consists of the armory and munitions bunker as well as extensive storage. Sector 5 was apparently part of some sort of large scale experiment at one point, but I think it's since been shut down or converted. Then again, I could be wrong. I've never actually been to Sector 5 myself, so it's anyone's guess. The security seems to be most lax in this area, however, which will factor into our plan."

"What exactly _is_ our plan?" asked Cindy.

"Hold on, I'm getting to that. But first, a little more on internal security. Each sector can be remotely sealed off from the main control room and the other sectors, which prevents potential intruders from moving freely about the base. The only way to get into the main control room is with a DNA scan, retina scan, voice match, and password combination. Fortunately, our goal isn't to infiltrate the main control room. All we have to do is get close enough to the Dictator to administer the antidote, and then get the heck out of there."

"What 'bout Sheen?" asked Future Libby. "Or Carl for that matter? And suppose there are other prisoners bein' kept there? We can't just leave them."

"That does complicate things a little, but we'll just have to figure that out as we go. The main problem is going to be surviving long enough to meet Dictator Jimmy in person. The base is crawling with robotic soldiers, programmed to kill anyone who might be a threat. There are gun turrets located around key entrances, and if our luck is bad, we might run into all sorts of other nasties. I have no idea what kind of new stuff he's invented in the three years since my capture. He's been fairly dormant lately in terms of attacks, so that can't be good for us."

Jimmy frowned again. "I don't get it, Aurora. With that kind of security and no previous knowledge of the base, how on earth did you manage to escape the first time?"

Everyone looked at Aurora expectantly, and she sighed. "I promised I'd never tell anyone, in case word somehow got back to the Dictator, but I guess it can't do much harm to tell you now. The truth is, I never could have gotten away by myself…it was Carl who helped me escape. If it weren't for him, I'd still be in that prison, or worse."

They all stared at her in surprise. Carl's eyes seemed to twinkle as he looked up at her.

"Wow!" he exulted. "I'm a hero!"

Nav looked impressed. "Wow, and this whole time I thought he was just a spineless coward. Who knew."

"It's not important," cut off Aurora. "We need to get back on topic…each of you has a vital role in the plan, and you need to know it. So here we go."

The group leaned in, all eyes fixed on their leader.

"The first hurdle will be leaving Planet Gorlock undetected. Now that the Council knows of our plan, they'll be carefully monitoring me to make sure we don't try anything funny. That means we won't be able to take the _Desperado_ without arousing suspicion. Luckily, Nav has provided a solution."

"I'm scheduled to leave tomorrow in my ship, the _Shahada_," he said, "so its sudden departure won't attract any attention. Granted, it's a bit of a junk heap, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is that it's equipped with a hyperdrive, which we'll need to get to the Dictator's planet. Of course, it won't do us much good after that, considering that the Dictator's entire defense was designed to prevent big ships like the _Shahada_ from getting close. Luckily, I recently…how do I put this? ...'liberated' a few small fighter craft from their original owners, and they're sitting in the cargo bay this very minute. We'll leave the _Shahada_ in distant orbit and hop into the fighters, then work our way through the orbital defense, through the atmosphere, and down to sea level. That is…provided we don't get blown to smithereens by the mines, sucked into a black hole, pulverized by the seeker drones, or incinerated by the _Half Life_."

"A comforting thought," said Jimmy sarcastically. "Thanks."

"Any time…"

"Wait," said Future Libby. "If the surface is all water, how are we gonna land? How are we gonna get into the base for that matter?"

"Actually," said Aurora, "I was hoping Jimmy could help come up with a solution. Neutron?"

"Uh…"

Sheen waved his hand around in the air. "Oh! Pick me! Over here! Right here! I HAVE AN IDEA!"

Aurora rubbed her temples. "All right Sheen, what is it…"

"OK, are you ready? Here it is…We'll chew gum!"

Before anyone could accuse Sheen of ultimate stupidity, Jimmy's eyes lit up.

"No, wait! I can't believe I'm saying this, but Sheen's right! I completely forgot about my Neutronic Air Gum. When chewed, the gum temporarily allows you to breathe and speak underwater, as well as tolerate extreme pressure. It's perfect for the sort of diving we'll need to do to get down to the Dictator's base."

Cindy reeled back in shock. "Whoa, you mean…Sheen actually came up with a GOOD idea?"

Everyone gasped in unison.

"Wow," beamed Libby, "if things keep goin' like this, we might actually be able to pull this off!" She looked over at Sheen, who had picked up what appeared to be a shriveled raisin from the ground and was licking it tentatively. "…On second thought, we're all doomed."

"Yup," agreed Cindy.

Jimmy nodded. "Pretty much."

Aurora ignored the running commentary. "The seating arrangements in the fighters are as follows: I will pilot craft 1, and Jimmy and young Libby will accompany me in the back seats. April will pilot craft 2, and her passengers will be Cindy and my Libby. Nav will handle craft 3, and Sheen and Carl will go with him. Got it?"

Everyone nodded.

"Once we've reached the surface of the ocean, we'll jump ship and swim down to the base. We're not any bigger than the local aquatic life, and without generating any kind of EM signal, I don't think his sensors will freak out when we get close."

"Aurora," said April, "how will we get into the base?"

"Ah, yes. Here comes the fun part. There are a series of water-filled ducts that run throughout the walls of the entire building. They're designed to equalize the pressure between the interior and the surrounding ocean. There are three separate openings that suck water into the aqueducts and circulate it. We'll split up into three groups and enter through the openings. Libby is coming with me. April and Nav will go together, and you kids will be the final group."

"By ourselves?" asked Carl.

"I'm not going to make the mistake of underestimating you. I remember the kinds of things we used to pull off when we were kids. You've rescued your parents from aliens, defeated insane villains, saved the town from natural disasters…you can handle it."

"I guess…" mumbled Cindy.

Aurora looked her straight in the eye. "Not only can you handle it, but you've GOT to handle it. You're the trump card to this whole plan. The Dictator doesn't know you exist, and he certainly won't be expecting you. You also have another advantage: Jimmy's mind…and his DNA. Jimmy, because your genetic code matches the Dictator's, the weapons won't fire on you, and you'll probably be able to use most of his technology. It'll be up to you to keep the others safe and to clear the way for the rest of us, should the need arise."

Jimmy swallowed audibly.

"However, we still have one final problem, one glitch in the plan… Lady Jaya took the third vial of antidote, which means one group will have to go in without it. If the Dictator catches them, there won't be much they can do."

"If I stayed up tonight, maybe I could improvise something…" offered Jimmy.

"No. You haven't slept in God knows how long. You need to be rested so you can focus tomorrow. There must be another way…"

"C-Can I help?" came a voice from somewhere nearby.

April immediately pulled out her gun. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

Whimpers emanated from behind a pile of firewood, and Nav dove toward the sound. His foot caught on a stump and he crashed headfirst into the woodpile, sending logs and shards of bark flying in all directions. When the dust settled, he held a squirming Gorlock child in his arms.

"Let me go, please! I will not tell, I swear!"

"Wenna?" gasped Future Libby.

"I'm sorry!" cried the girl, tearing up. "I did not mean to listen! I did not want to go after that scary Warthog with the other villagers, so I hid here. I'm sorry! Please don't hit me!"

Nav patted her head awkwardly, and April pointed the gun at her.

"Pathetic child! I should…"

Future Libby silenced April with a wave of her hand. She approached the young Gorlock with smiles and reassurances. "Wenna, it's me, remember? I'm not angry at you, but you can't tell anyone what you just heard, OK? Cause otherwise all of us will get really hurt, and I won't be able to come back and see you again. OK? Promise?"

"I-I'm s-sorry!" Wenna sniffled. "I won't tell! Promise!"

"There's a good girl!"

A twig snapped in the woods nearby, and April whirled around and fired three shots into the night. Wenna covered her ears and buried her face against Nav's chest.

Aurora lowered her voice. "April, what was it?"

"I cannot tell…but I think I see something moving…"

A figure walked out of the smoke cloud, the firelight glinting off her sharpened fangs. The sparks from the fire fluttered past her face, and their dancing reflections were the only indication of the triumph hidden in the shadow of her helmet.

"You may have convinced my weak-minded sister to keep her mouth shut," proclaimed Nakki, "but I will not be so easily silenced! I am going to Lady Jaya. I am going to tell everyone about your plan. Pathetic, ungrateful traitors! You will not go unpunished!"

She sprinted off toward the forest.

"Stop her!" shouted Aurora. "If she gets away, we're as good as finished!"

April fired two shots into the canopy, and a huge branch crashed to the ground, cutting off Nakki's escape route. Before Nakki had time to react, Nav materialized behind her and slipped one hand over her mouth. She kicked and squirmed violently, but he held her fast.

"Phew," exhaled Nav. "That was a close one. Hey, what are you…?"

Nakki bit down hard on his hand, then yelped in pain.

"Won't work, knucklehead," he said, knocking on her cranium. "My hand isn't real."

Aurora stormed over and glared down at him angrily. "Nav, this is a disaster. I thought you said you checked the area!"

"I did! How was I supposed to know these two kids were hiding out in a woodpile?"

"Idiot! Now what are we going to do? It was bad enough when just Wenna knew about this, now this little brat too? We can't count on her to keep her mouth shut!"

"Well don't look at me!" he said defensively. "I'm not going to do it! I make a point of not hurting kids, remember? Especially girls!"

"Dammit Nav, your condescending morality really ticks me off sometimes! Fine…I'll do it!"

"Do what, Aurora?" asked Future Libby. "What are you talking about?"

"It's standard Gorlock procedure," she replied darkly. "Eavesdroppers have their tongues cut out. Obviously we can't do that to a kid, so we'll just have to burn her tongue so she can't talk for a few weeks. It's no big deal; it'll heal eventually."

"Aurora!" exclaimed Future Libby. "You can't be serious! She's just a child!"

"Well then what do you suggest we do? If she tells them before we leave, we're done for, and so is our plan! I wouldn't feel right about killing a kid, but short of that, rendering her unable to speak is the only other option!"

"Can't we just tie them up or somethin'? You know, until after we've left?"

"And what if one of them escapes? Should the price of your compassion be all of our necks?"

"But if we go around hurtin' kids, we'll be no better than criminals ourselves!"

Aurora whirled to face her friend. "That's just it - we ARE criminals! Nav, April, _and_ me! I've led a very different life from you, Libby. It's us or them, kill or be killed. So unless you have a better idea, I'm going to stick to that credo!"

Future Libby looked distraught for a moment, then Jimmy stepped forward and gripped her arm.

"Aurora, this is wrong," he said firmly. "If you stopped to think about it for a minute, you'd realize."

Cindy nodded. "Granted, she's a nasty little kid who probably deserves to get some sense beaten into her. But jeez, burning her tongue? You're being a little bit radical here, even for me."

"Listen," offered Jimmy soothingly. "Goddard's batteries are almost drained, but I think I have just enough juice to run a memory wipe on the two of them. They won't remember anything that happened in the last twenty minutes. It's not foolproof, but at least it's humane."

Aurora turned away, her expression savage. "Fine! Do whatever you want. I don't care. Just do it quickly, and then get them out of my sight."

She stalked off in a temper, and Sheen scuffled his feet against the ground. "...Now wouldn't be a good time to say that I really have to use the bathroom, would it?"

...

Twenty minutes later, Cindy, Libby, Carl, and Sheen were sitting around the campfire, each lost in the privacy of their own thoughts. Jimmy approached out of the night's yawning darkness, and he heaved a tired sigh as he slumped down next to Libby.

"Well, that's taken care of…" He stretched loudly to cover the silence that followed. "…So, uh…what's everyone doing?"

"Just thinkin' about stuff…" Libby's gaze wandered skyward, and after a pause she pointed up at a patch of nameless stars twinkling through a break in the cloud cover. Their light played over her face, reaching her only now, after having traveled billions of years through the endlessness of space. "Look! Six stars! ...One for each of us, if you count Goddard." Her words faded, and there was another pause. "So, uh…where is Goddard anyway?" asked Libby.

Jimmy shrugged. "Nav let me hook him up to a power outlet on the _Shahada_. His battery's charging as we speak."

"And where's Nav?" inquired Cindy.

Jimmy cleared his throat. "Um…I think he and April went off together somewhere…"

Grinning nastily, Sheen leaned over and elbowed Cindy. "I bet there's gonna be a lot of Gorlockan trust-sealing tonight, eh? Eh?" He elbowed her some more, and she swatted his arm away.

"Get a grip, Sheen! This might be the last night they get to spend together. Show a little respect, will ya?"

Silence took hold again, and the group shifted uncomfortably. Jimmy gazed into the fire, and its its searing orange color reflected in his eyes.

"It's kind of sobering, contemplating the possibility of death, isn't it?"

Cindy and Libby looked up at Jimmy in surprise, but nobody answered. At last Cindy spoke. "I guess it's just…never mind."

"What?"

"Well, it's just…we've never had to sit around and think about it before. All the other times we faced danger, we were always caught up in the heat of the moment. Things happened so fast, there wasn't time to sit around and think about what might happen. It's this waiting that's the worst. I can't stand it. I just want it to be over with."

The flames spiraled lower, flickering as they performed their final dance over the embers.

Carl joined the conversation in a small voice. "Do you…do you really think something bad will happen tomorrow? …That one of us might…you know…?"

"You can't think like that, Carl," urged Libby. "It'll just get you down. Whatever happens, happens. Sittin' around thinkin' about it won't make it any better. So just concentrate on somethin' else."

"That's easy to say, Libs," countered Cindy. "But you know darn well we're still gonna think about it anyway."

Sheen poked the fire absently. "Do you think there's Ultralord in heaven?"

Libby smiled. "For you Sheen, I'm sure there is. Video games too, and awesome music 24/7. And mountains of candy, and all the Purple Flurp you can drink…"

Sheen's worried expression morphed into a grin. "Then what the heck are we waiting for? Who's got some arsenic?"

"Sheen, that's not funny," said Jimmy sternly.

"Sorry…"

Jimmy looked lost for a moment. "You know," he began pensively, "all my life I've subscribed to an orderly, logical, and scientific worldview. Science means everything to me. But at times like this, I almost wish…"

He swiveled his head to look away, but Cindy caught his gaze before he could turn.

"You almost wish what?"

"Nothing."

"No, what do you wish?"

"I don't know…that I could share Libby's views on the afterlife, I guess."

"Why?" asked Cindy. "What do you think happens when we die?"

"Well, to be honest…nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Ya," he said, shifting a little. "I mean, we're just organisms like everything else. When we die, we biodegrade and then there's just…nothing."

Bleak silence.

"I don't like your heaven too much Jimmy," said Carl.

"It's not heaven, Carl. It's not anything."

Libby looked skyward. "Well, I think there's more to it than that. And if you ever need proof, just look up there – up at the night sky. What do you see?"

"Empty space interspersed with pockets of matter," he answered dully.

"No, I mean, what do you _see_? When you think about all those countless stars...if you really stop to think about just how vast the universe is, you realize that we're a part of somethin' so much bigger, somethin' so amazing and beautiful that we can't even hope to understand it."

Jimmy smiled sadly. "I hope you're right, Libby."

The silence seemed to stretch on for an eternity.

"Hey…guys?" said Carl at last. "Do you think that when, well, you know…when we die and everything…that we'll end up somewhere where we can be together? Heaven just wouldn't be heaven without all of you."

Cindy, Libby, Sheen, and Jimmy did their best to hide the wide array of emotions that they felt at these words.

"Carl…"

"Jeez…" muttered Cindy.

Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, guys, whatever happens tomorrow, I just want you to know that…ah boy, how do I say this? Maybe there is something more to all of this, but if there isn't, well…I'm glad I got to be here while I did."

"Me too," smiled Cindy.

The two of them beamed at each other, enmity temporarily forgotten.

"Wow," said Libby, "I wish we had wine glasses or somethin'…an occasion like this calls for a toast. Maybe we could pretend?"

The others nodded, and they each wrapped their fingers around an imaginary glass. After some brief hesitation, Libby raised hers, and the others followed her example.

"I feel totally ridiculous…" grumbled Cindy.

"Shh!" said Jimmy.

Libby started the toast. "Ahem! Here's to friends…"

"…and to all our adventures!" added Sheen.

"Here's to new beginnings…" said Cindy.

"…and to getting home safe again," finished Carl.

Jimmy raised his solemnly. "Here's to whatever happens next…"

They ceremoniously drank the emptiness from imaginary cups, and lost themselves in a warm glow that real wine could never produce. Sadly, the moment was utterly ruined when Sheen burped loudly and tossed the pretend glass over his shoulder.

"Well," he belted out, stretching, "that was the deepest conversation I've ever had. I feel a mother headache coming on. What I need right about now is a ten pound bag of sugar and twelve straight hours of video games. That'd get her done."

Jimmy hung his head. "Maybe we should call it a night."

"Here here," said Cindy and Libby simultaneously.

One by one they stood, and Jimmy doused what was left of the fire. The tired group then shuffled into a waiting hut and – from the perspective of the faraway stars – disappeared forever.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who waited patiently!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	33. Darkness Be My Friend

Shitty chapter illustration, ahoy: fc06 .deviantart fs12/f/2006/323/e/7/Darkness_Be_My_Friend_by_Acaciathorn . jpg (remove spaces)

* * *

**Chapter 33: Darkness Be My Friend**

The night was nearly over, and the world waited for morning to creep into dark places. Outside the tents, dense fog filled the air, shrouding the pre-dawn sky in shades of gray. Jimmy shifted uncomfortably in his sleep, then sat bolt upright at the sound of muffled footsteps beside him. April clamped her hand over his mouth to stifle his sharp intake of air.

"Shh," she hissed. "Wake the others."

Shaking off sleep, he turned to the huddled group of kids sprawled out on makeshift beds on the floor. "Psst. Hey. Cindy, Libby…wake up. Hey."

Cindy stirred and squinted over at him. "Neutron, what the…? ...the sun's not even up yet…"

"Shh, be quiet," he whispered. "April was here just a second ago. Get Carl and Sheen up, and be quick about it."

The girls rolled over and prodded the sleeping boys, who stirred fitfully before finally sitting up.

Carl rubbed his eyes. "Aww, I was having the nicest dream about my Swedish penpal Elke riding a llama…"

"That's nothing!" blurted Sheen. "My dream had hula hoops, George Washington, and a hot tub filled with donut glaze."

Aurora poked her head in through the tent's metal flap. "Is everyone up?"

The kids moaned in response.

"Shh!" she urged, glancing back over her shoulder. "We're leaving now. A low-lying cloud bank just rolled in, and it'll provide the cover we need to take off. Be as quiet as possible. The villagers are back, and although Gorlocks tend to be pretty sound sleepers, it's best not to take any chances."

She ducked out, and the tent's occupants grudgingly extracted themselves from the tangled mess of leaves and animal furs in which they had slept. In various states of waking, they shuffled out of the tent and into the misty clearing beyond the circle of huts.

Nav waited outside, buttoning up his gray coat. "Morning, compatriots. Man, I slept like a ROCK."

"Ugh…" groaned Cindy.

"And would you get a load of this weather? Drab and _miserable._ Just the way I like to start another grim day of villainy."

"Oh jeez. You're a morning person, aren't you."

He pinched her cheek obnoxiously. "You're so adorable when you hate my guts."

April joined them a moment later, and her lithe frame supported an astonishing number of weapons. She had a gigantic cannon strapped across her shoulders, and four sets of holsters lined her legs. Two curved knives glinted from a compartment on her left boot, and as if that weren't enough, she carried what appeared to be the alien equivalent of an AK47 in her hands.

"Wow," said Nav. "April, you look…um…"

"Well-equipped?" she provided hopefully.

"I was gonna say 'homicidal', but sure…"

"Aww, Nav, you are too kind."

Carl's voice piped out of the early morning darkness. "Umm, sorry, but…when's breakfast?"

"No time to cook, I'm afraid," replied Nav. "Luckily for you, my rotund friend, I brought these."

He reached into his coat and produced five shrink-wrapped energy bars. He passed them out to the kids, who eyed them with some suspicion before sampling them gingerly.

"Behold the wonder that is the Astrobar," he narrated cheerfully, "…'specially formulated for people who spend long periods of time traveling through space. Guaranteed to fill you up and keep you going for 18 hours. Unfortunately they taste like buttcrack, so…"

Cindy choked noisily and spat out the piece in her mouth.

"Your choice of words never ceases to amaze me, Nav," said Aurora as she materialized out of the fog. "Lead the way, oh simile-challenged one. Sunrise is in twenty minutes."

"Your wish is my command."

Future Libby's crystal voice echoed from somewhere inside one of the huts. "Wait for me!"

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Libby, you take longer to get ready than any other human being I've ever met."

Scuffling sounds ensued, and Future Libby rushed out of the hut. All the males in the group immediately did a double-take when they saw her outfit, which consisted of a skimpy Mandarin dress and enough rings and bracelets to sink a small rowboat. She wore a golden bindi and a pair of hoop earrings, and there were henna designs painted on her hands and feet.

Aurora's eyes grew wide. "Libby, WHAT are you wearing?"

"Well, I thought that since I might be seein' Sheen, I oughtta look nice…" She trailed off.

"Libby, we are going into _battle," _said Aurora, rubbing her temples. "And you're in a _dress_. A impractical and revealing dress, I might add. Are you mental?"

"Well if it makes ya feel any better, I'm not wearin' heels…"

Aurora threw her hands in the air. "Somebody tell me this is a dream."

Nav smirked in Future Libby's direction. "It's my dream."

This remark earned Nav a smack upside the head, and a slow smile crossed Future Libby's lips. "So…I look nice?"

"Sheen's liable to have a brain hemorrhage, Libs," said Aurora. "Congratulations. Now can we _please_ get going?"

Nav orated dramatically. "Sagya drahat sha'a keel…"

"Say _what_?" asked Libby.

"It's one of those sayings that can't be literally translated. Means something like, 'It ain't over till the fat lady sings' in Numerian."

"But what does that…"

"Just felt like saying it."

The tired and somewhat irate group followed Nav out of the village and across the steppes. They somehow managed to choke down the Astrobars, and by the time they reached the shipyard, the horizon was tinged with sunrise. The craft that awaited them was an ugly, bronze-colored wreck covered in dents and patches of rust. From the look of things, the _Shahada_ was made up of three or four different spaceship models haphazardly welded together. Nav stopped in front of the ship, planted his hands on his hips, and gazed up at it with a sigh.

"Aww, home sweet home."

"That thing is hideous," said Cindy.

"It's better than my last heap, the _Roadkill Sloth_."

"The WHAT?"

"Don't look at me," said Nav. "Aurora named it."

"The title fit, trust me," she returned.

Goddard bounded down the gangplank and rushed to Jimmy, barking in excitement. He greeted his master with a slobbery face-licking, and Jimmy laughed as he pushed his pet off him.

"Glad to see you're feeling better, boy. How's your battery level?"

A screen popped up on Goddard's chest, showing a fully charged energy bar and a power level of 98%.

"Looks like you're good to go."

Jimmy petted Goddard some more, and Aurora began to tap her foot anxiously.

Nav picked up on her impatience. "Right this way, ladies and gents."

He swaggered up the ship's copper-colored gangplank and came to a stop in front of the dinged-up metal entrance. The door was bolted to the fuselage by a series of forty or so separate locks. They came in all shapes and sizes, and they gave the entryway the look of a deranged, maximum security prison. Nav whipped out his left arm, and a shiny metal pin sprung from his mechanical finger like a Swiss army knife. He held it out for inspection by his audience and then, with dramatic flair, proceeded to pick the locks at lightning speed. Seconds later every bolt, padlock, and latch flipped open. Future Libby, Carl, and Sheen oohed and awwed at the performance.

"After you…" He pushed on the door and motioned for them to enter. April gave his arm a squeeze as she and Aurora breezed past.

Aurora glanced back at him with a suppressed smile. "Show-off…"

Nav stuck up his nose. "You're just jealous of my mind-boggling talent."

One by one, they filed into the bridge. In the dimness, the occupants could barely make out the piles of junk heaped chaotically throughout.

"Let there be light!" proclaimed Nav.

A tired, yellowish bulb flickered to life overhead. It blinked off and on sleepily, before illuminating the contents of the room in alternating splashes of gold and black. The kids surveyed their surroundings in awe. The entire room was filled floor-to-ceiling with stolen goods, ranging from broken-down farm equipment to chests heaped high with priceless gemstones and wads of cash.

"Welcome to the bridge, everyone. Make yourselves at home."

Libby gazed around, starry-eyed. "So…much…stuff!"

Libby, Cindy, and Future Libby propped open a wooden trunk and started drooling over the fancy clothing inside; Sheen picked up an old, dirty shoe and gave it a sniff. Jimmy examined a half-crushed ray gun of some sort, and Carl jumped in surprise when he caught a glimpse of his Gothic reflection in a length of broken mirror. Future Libby lifted an intricately embroidered velvet dress from the trunk and held it out.

"Ooooh…"

"That's for my little sister, Laudya," said Nav. "You like?"

"I'll say! This thing looks fit for a queen!"

"Only the best for my angel," smiled Nav dreamily.

Cindy tossed a shirt back into the trunk. "Was that sarcasm, or genuine?"

"Oh no, he was being serious," said April. "He worships the ground she walks on. Isn't that right?"

Nav shrugged. "Sad, but true."

Jimmy made a face as he gingerly lifted a ladle from under a pair of gigantic underpants. He turned to face Nav, holding it as far away from his body as possible.

"If you don't mind my asking, Nav, is there a reason behind these bizarre pack-rat tendencies? Do you steal for a reason, or are you just a kleptomaniac?"

"Oh, I have a reason. I'm no idiot. I know that money makes the world go round. And the more money I get, the more I get to say WHICH way the world goes round. Everything here has value. I can pawn off all this junk for profit."

"What are you gonna do with all the money?" asked Libby.

"Why, I'm going to BUY Numeria, of course."

Jimmy dropped the ladle. "You're going to _buy_ your home planet? Why?"

"Well, let's just put it this way – my planet is a backwater cesspool of misguided religious fundamentalists ruled over by a bunch of selfish egotistical lying hypocritical bigots."

Future Libby blinked. "…That's a mouthful."

Nav straightened. "But not for much longer. Once I buy Numeria, I can put those self-important windbags out of their misery. Then Numeria might actually stand a chance of becoming a place where people can live decent lives."

"Sounds noble," said Future Libby.

"Not really. I don't give a rat's ass about what happens to the people I steal from, and I don't care who I have to kill on Numeria to set things right. All I know is, I'm not going to sit by and watch my baby sister grow up in a world where she has no rights, no chance at any future other than as the third wife of some drunkard who can beat her any time he pleases. That girl's an angel, and there are a thousand others just like her with nobody to watch out for them. It's time somebody changed the way people think on Numeria, and I intend to do that, even if I have to personally burn every last copy of our oppression-filled, lie-spewing, sewer-scum Holy Book."

"Does your sister like…_know_ you're a crazy notorious thief?" asked Cindy.

"Nah. I try to keep her sheltered from all that stuff. Course, then again, I don't see her that often. When she was eight, I took her off Numeria so my idiot parents wouldn't marry her off the second she came of age. I brought her to Mejair, a rural planet with a matriarchal system. She's been there ever since. It's a nice enough place...lots of gardens. She likes that."

"How old is she now?" pried Cindy.

"Eighteen."

"And she STILL doesn't know?"

"Nope."

"What the heck? Why haven't you told her?"

A hint of anger leaked into his expression. "Hey!" he shouted defensively. "With this last ship-full of stuff, I'll have enough to buy the stupid planet. Then I'll explain everything to her. Satisfied?"

"Not really. Your plan makes next to no sense, but hey, if you want to lie to your sister and buy her a planet with stolen money, that's your choice."

He turned to glare down at her. "What business is it of yours what I do with my life?"

Aurora stepped in and offered a gesture of pacification. "Um, I'm afraid that this time it's MY turn to break up the argument. Nav, we need to go."

"Ah, yes. Good point." He shook his head, then forced a smile. "Sorry. I always get so riled up when I talk about this crap. I bloody HATE Numeria. Sometimes I wish the Dictator would just torch the place and be done with it."

He strolled over to the pilot's seat, which was nothing more than a swivel chair plunked in front of an antiquated control panel. He kicked off his boots, and they sailed across the room and crashed into a towering stack of gold coins. The kids watched as a fortune cascaded onto the floor.

"All righty Aurora, hit me with some coordinates."

Aurora gripped the back of his chair and proclaimed the information confidently. "P24-505, outer spiral arm Delta, Sector B, 92.4 million miles from star B Arcturias Galladia, bearing mark 2 degrees on the ecliptic."

"Right-O!"

Nav hurriedly punched in the information, and the ship lifted off the ground and rocketed skyward. The entire room shook and jostled from the force of the thrusters, and the ship's occupants struggled to maintain their footing. Future Libby held on tight to Aurora, who seemed unfazed by the violently quaking cockpit. Cindy and Libby pitched forward, and the boys toppled backward and crashed into a pile of silver trinkets.

"Uh…you might want to hold on to something," said Nav. "The _Shahada_'s inertial dampeners are pretty much shot…"

"I noticed," grumbled Jimmy.

The passengers were subjected to one final, sharp jolt as the ship broke free of the clouds. All at once the ride became smooth, and the kids sat up again.

"OK, we've reached the exosphere…How are we doing back there?"

"Fine," replied Aurora.

"How about you minis?" asked Nav.

They extricated themselves from the piles of treasure, brushing off coins and bits of jewelry as if they were dust. Nav saw Cindy and Libby stealthily slip a few into their pockets along the way, and he hid a smile.

"Makes me miss the _Desperado_…" said Libby, straightening her suit.

Carl stretched and let out a massive yawn. "I miss the bunk beds. I'm so sleepy all of the sudden."

"Me too. Guess we haven't been sleepin' enough lately." She yawned as well, and it swept through the room like a contagion.

"Man, I am WIPED," said Sheen. "I feel like I've been doing battle against the Robofiend-Megatron Mechamorph from the Ultralord-Transformer Power Hour."

"Why don't you lie down?" suggested Nav. "There are a couple of bean bag chairs there in the corner. You can take a little rest."

Jimmy wiped his eyes and nodded. "Hmm. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to lie down for just a _little_ while…"

The five of them marched their tired limbs over to a circle of neon-bright beanbag chairs amidst the rest of the clutter. It took all of their remaining energy just to collapse onto the makeshift beds.

"Jimmy," pleaded Carl, "will you rub my tummy and sing nonny…nonny … _nonny_…" His voice faded, and before long his loud snore reverberated through the cockpit. Within thirty seconds, the others followed him into sleep.

Aurora watched them with the slightest expression of concern. "OK, that was weird. I mean, I knew they were tired, but…"

"I certainly hope they are not ill!" exclaimed April. "That would be detrimental to our mission! Nav, how long till we reach the planet?"

Nav folded his hands behind his neck and reclined in his chair. "Don't worry, they'll wake up before we get there."

Aurora turned on him slowly, eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Nav, that's your evil voice. What did you DO to them?"

He toyed with a lock of hair, fluttering his eyelashes innocently. "Well, I _may_ have drugged their astrobars…"

"You WHAT?"

"I laced them with sleeping pills."

"WHAT? Sleeping pills? Nav, you idiot! What could you possibly have been thinking?"

"Relax. Did you see the circles under their eyes? They were exhausted. It takes like…what…five hours to get to P24-505? I knew that if they stayed awake they'd just stress the whole time. It's better this way."

"Why do you ALWAYS pull crap like this right before a mission?" demanded Aurora angrily. "You can't just drug people without letting me know! Are you completely brainless? God, Nav, this kind of reckless behavior is exactly what gets you into trouble all the time!"

"Hey, what are getting mad at me for? I had their best interests in mind!"

April placed a consolatory hand on Aurora's shoulder. "Aurora, I think he meant well. Perhaps you should calm down."

Aurora threw her hands up. "Don't defend him! Just…I don't know! Ugh! Do something to punish him so he won't do it again!"

April considered for a moment, then leaned forward and pronounced Nav's punishment with perfect seriousness. "No licentious midnight trysts for a whole week, Nav."

"Aww, man! What a rip-off!"

"Eew, April!" squealed Aurora. "Keep that sort of stuff to yourself!"

"What? You asked me to…"

"You know what? Never mind. I'm sorry, I guess I'm just a little tense. Maybe I should go do something to take my mind off it." She paced up and down, radiating nervous energy as she pondered. She snapped her fingers. "Aha! I've got it. I'll go to the cargo bay and check the fighter-ships." She headed toward the sliding door that led out of the cockpit, turning circles around herself as she chattered. "I'll run full system diagnostics and check the stabilizers, then make sure the restraints and inertial dampeners are working properly and…"

She continued talking as she exited the room, until the sliding doors abruptly cut off the sound of her preoccupied rambling. There was a moment of silence, then Nav spun around in his swivel chair. He glanced up at April and ran his hands over the front of the chair suggestively.

"So…April. How about a licentious _midday_ tryst?"

"…Nice try."

* * *

Nav, you sly dog, you :D

Props to anyone who caught the blatant reference to the movie '9 to 5'!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	34. Diversion

Sorry about the long wait everyone! Here comes the next chapter. Sorry if the suckage quotient is high...I haven't really had time to work the kinks out of it yet.

On the bright side, this is the last informational/intellectual/planning drabble chapter left before the big exciting ending sequence. Wooooo!

* * *

**Chapter 34: Diversion**

As the kids sank into drug-induced sleep, the orange light of a Gorlockan morning streamed through the open window of Lady Jaya's private quarters. She shifted in her sleep, them sat up and stretched. She had barely opened her eyes when there was a loud knock on the door. Throwing her feet over the side of the bed, she rose.

"One moment!"

She drew the strings on her dressing gown a little tighter before opening the door. The young male Gorlock on the other side stood to attention, clapping a hand to his shoulder in a gesture of respect.

"This had better be good, corporal," she muttered, rubbing her head.

"I am sorry to disturb you in your private quarters, Lady Jaya, but I have a rather unusual circumstance to report."

"Proceed…"

"Milady, it seems that for the last hour or so, there has been a young girl standing outside who claims to have vital information for you. Normally I would not listen to such a small child, but her story was quite extraordinary…"

"What _sort_ of information did she say she had, corporal?"

He continued on nervously. "Information, apparently, on the defection of Aurora, Nav Aksha'at, and…April."

Lady Jaya whirled around and grabbed her overcoat from its peg on the wall. Swiftly wrapping it around herself, she slipped on a pair of shoes and stepped into the hall. "Take me to her."

"In…in your…night clothes, milady?" he stammered, even more nervously than before.

"_NOW."_

Flushing in embarrassment, the corporal saluted sharply and obeyed. A few minutes later, Lady Jaya stepped out into the courtyard in the center of the capitol building. She briskly crossed the mossy stone tiles to where a pair of burly Gorlock guards was waiting.

"Where is the girl?"

"Here I am, Lady Jaya!" Nakki brashly strode forward, pushing aside one of the guards. "Milady, I…"

"Who are you?" snapped Lady Jaya.

Nakki forced a falsely sweet, subservient expression. "Nakki Dee-aye-AH, Bilka's daughter from the lake encampment, your ladyship. I have very important information for you!"

"So I hear," remarked Jaya dryly. "Well, what is it? Speak, and be quick about it."

"Last night, my sister Wenna and I left camp along with the other villagers to hunt down a rogue wild boar that had been sighted in the jungle. My pathetic sister was afraid to hunt the beast, and so she snuck away and went back to our tent. I followed her to teach her a lesson, but when I got back to camp, I found that it was not empty! Aurora and April – and the _Samarkandi_ and those weird little aliens – were there, and they were planning treasonous things!"

Lady Jaya leaned forward, her expression earnest. "What kinds of things?"

Nakki recounted the details of Aurora's plan with astonishing accuracy for someone so young, pausing to embellish the tale with details of her own bravery. All the while, Lady Jaya listened intently.

"…When I confronted them, April's fiancé – you know, the _Samarkandi_ – caught me. I tried to escape by biting his hand, but it was made of metal…" Nakki opened her mouth and indicated a chipped incisor and bloodied gums. "Aurora wanted to burn my tongue to silence me, but that other human woman and the little aliens stopped her. In the end, one of the aliens – the one with the strange brown arrangement sitting atop his head – said he could erase my memories." She frowned as she continued recounting her story. "He…made me look at a blinking screen on the front of some sort of robotic animal. I fell asleep…but when I woke up this morning I remembered everything. The mind wipe did not work!"

"Were there any other witnesses to this?"

"My weak-minded sister was there," replied Nakki scornfully, "but when she woke up, she told me that she could not remember anything that happened last night. Her memories were taken, but mine were not. All that I have told you is true, I swear it!"

"I believe you." She straightened and shouted to the guards in the vicinity. "Men! Someone find General Nor and Tartune and instruct them to organize a search for April and Aurora. If they cannot be found within the hour, I want the high council to assemble immediately. Put a lock on all air traffic until then, understand? I don't want anyone leaving or entering our airspace without authorization. Get to it!"

The guards scrambled, and the Gorlock leader turned back to Nakki. "You shall be rewarded for this. What do you want?"

"Advance my rank, Lady Jaya," said Nakki. "I know I am young, but I hope to be a General someday."

"Done. Now go back to your camp and await further orders. Your mother and sister are probably wondering where you are."

The child smiled cruelly. "I doubt it. My sister is probably crying in her bed, knowing her…"

...

Nakki's statement could not have be farther from the truth, however. At that very same moment, Wenna was sneaking into a small ring of huts on the outskirts of Nuku. Slipping past a couple of Gorlocks roasting food over the central fire, she crept toward the far end of the circle. After a quick glance behind her, she reached her target destination: Lee's tent. She dashed in to find Lee bare-chested, carefully trimming the hair on his head to regulation length.

"Lee!"

He looked up, startled, scissors still raised in one hand, and a wisp of hair floated gently down to the floor. Panting, the tiny Gorlock closed the tent flap and rushed over to him.

"Um…can I help you?" he asked.

She tugged on his arm, tears threatening to spill over her long lashes. His brows knit together at her distress, and he knelt down and took her hand. "What is the matter? You look unwell. Do you need help?"

"I am sorry. I did not know who else to turn to! I am sorry! Please!"

"Shh, it is OK," he said gently. "Slow down."

She sniffled and wiped her eyes with a nod.

"…I remember you. You are Bilka's daughter, right? What is your name?"

"My name is Wenna Dee-aye-AH. I am sorry. I am not crying. I WILL be strong."

"Do not worry," he soothed. "Even Gorlocks cry sometimes, right? I will not tell anyone."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Now you must tell me what brings you here. Are you in trouble?"

"Not me! It is April!"

His jaw muscles tightened for a second, but he gave no other indication of the terrible sinking feeling that had swept over him. He forced himself to smile reassuringly and urge her on.

"April? April is in trouble?"

"And Aurora! And that tall metal man! I know you are friends with April, and you always seemed so nice. You never hit me when I was sad or acted weak. Please, you have to help!"

Lee shifted position and looked into her face. "April is the most important person in the world to me. Please tell me exactly what has happened."

Wenna managed to tumble out the story. "…I do not understand what Aurora was saying when she talked about an 'antidote'. I do not pay attention to what is going on with the war, so I do not know why it was so bad. But I DO know that my sister Nakki thought that it was treason. Aurora said that they were all as good as dead if anyone found out. They tried to wipe our memories, but I guess it did not work. I lied to Nakki and told her that I could not remember anything so that she would not suspect me…so that I could come and find you. Lee…Nakki has told Aurora's plan to Lady Jaya!" Wenna bit her lip to keep herself from crying. "If Lady Jaya and the High Council find out that Aurora and April are gone, something bad will happen to them! I am sure of it! Please, that nice human lady who let me sit on her lap is with them! I do not want her to get hurt! Please, you have to help!"

"Shh, you did the right thing by coming here. But you must remain calm. I will think of a plan. Do not worry, I will do everything in my power to make sure nothing happens to them. I just need to think." He straightened, then began pacing up and down inside the tent. Wenna gazed up at him anxiously, wringing her tiny hands together. After a minute, he stopped and looked down at her. "How long ago did Nakki speak to Lady Jaya? Do you know?"

"I…I do not know. But I came to find you as soon as Nakki went to see her. That was less than an hour ago."

"All right," he said. "Then we still have some time. April and the others probably took Nav's ship, since the council would notice if the _Desperado_ was missing. Nav was scheduled to leave this morning anyway. That means that Lady Jaya is not yet sure of whether April and Aurora are actually gone. She will likely send out search parties and attempt to locate them. Our main priority should be buying Aurora and April as much time as possible."

"What do you mean?"

"I have no doubt that Lady Jaya will eventually confirm that they have indeed left the planet. We need to buy them some time to carry out their plan. If we can give them a few hours head start, that might be enough. If we do not stall the search, the council will very soon dispatch ships to stop them. In that case, even if April and the others were to successfully carry out their mission, the enemy ships would be waiting for them when they tried to leave the Dictator's planet. We cannot allow that to happen."

"What should we do?" she asked.

He considered for a moment. "We will need a strategy. Firstly, we must distract the searchers with false information. I will make sure that each search party receives conflicting reports of where Aurora and April were most recently seen. While they are investigating these false sightings, we must create a diversion…something that will command a lot of attention and manpower. Hmm…perhaps I can cut the harnesses on Tolly and the other warthogs? If they get loose in one of the settlements, it will take several hours to round them up again…. I am sure other opportunities for sabotage will present themselves as well. We will have to improvise in order to keep the troops disorganized for as long as possible."

"Will that really work?"

He tapped a finger to his lips. "For a while. But it will not solve the whole problem. As I said, eventually Lady Jaya _will_ learn the truth. Our second objective, therefore, should be to clear April's name."

"How would you do that?"

"Lady Jaya has always distrusted Aurora," explained Lee. "We can use this to our advantage. We must convince Lady Jaya and the others that Aurora somehow forced or tricked April into doing this. That should not be too difficult, since I have no doubt that this is what Lady Jaya wants to believe anyway."

"So you mean…Aurora would take all the blame? But that is unfair!"

"Please, try to understand. By defying the council's authority, Aurora has sealed her own fate. There is no way Aurora would ever be welcomed back to Planet Gorlock now…I wouldn't be surprised if the council made her a wanted criminal. She has next to no chance of coming out of this without being labeled as a traitor. April, however, should not have to face a life of exile because of Aurora's change in plans. We must make sure that April is not blamed for this so that when the time comes, she can return home. I cannot abide the thought of her being forever shunned by her own people."

"But April was not tricked!" protested Wenna. "I saw the whole thing!"

"No matter. I will provide the proof. I will write a 'note' left behind by April explaining the 'dire circumstances' that forced her into following Aurora's plan. Creating a forgery will not be difficult. I know April's handwriting better than she does. Gorlock forensics are very poor…they will not even check for fingerprints. They will simply ask someone close to her – perhaps her father – to confirm that the message was indeed written by April. He will certainly not know the difference." He paused to think once more. "However, if I am to testify as to April's innocence, we must be very careful to make sure that I cannot be connected to the sabotage of the search effort. I cannot be seen acting in any way that is suspicious. This means I will need your help to carry out this plan. Will you be able to handle it?"

Shouts emanated from outside the tent, followed by the noisy footfalls of a dozen or so Gorlock guards. Lee and Wenna cast a sideways glance at the flap of the door, imagining the ranks of the search party as they lined up against them, like the pieces on a chess board.

Wenna nodded. "Yes. You can count on me, Lee. I will not let you down, I promise."

"Very well. Let's get to work."

* * *

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	35. Suffer the Fate of Atlantis

I watched the music video for "Everybody" (AKA Backstreet's Back) by the Backstreet Boys like 10 times while writing this. Seeing Nick Carter ask "am I sexual?" while wrapped up in toilet paper and half falling out of a sarcophagus just gives me epic lulz. Consequently, I can't be held responsible for any material that you may find objectionable in this chapter.

_Chappie illustration_**:** (remove the spaces) www .idreamofjimmy Fanart/MaraFateofAtlantis .jpg

* * *

**Chapter 35: Suffer the Fate of Atlantis**

The planet in Jimmy's dream drew near, rotating into view as the center of the universe. Space and time bent around it, a whirlpool of distorted thoughts and images streaming toward it in curves. He gazed down from far above, his eyes sleepily wandering across the oceans. Suddenly he felt air rushing up on either side of him, and with a lurch of fear he began plummeting toward the surface. The sharp terror of free fall filled his body as he spun faster and faster, the world turning dizzying corkscrews beneath him. Unable to slow his descent, he hurtled toward the waves. They closed over his head in a spray of black beads, and he sank down, paralyzed, pulled into the crushing, airless depths…

The computer alarm sounded. "Proximity alert. Proximity alert. Weapons system grid detected. Course correction recommended."

Jimmy jolted upright, gasping as he drew in deep breaths. Covered in cold sweat, heart pumping fast, he looked around in confusion. After a moment his deserted senses returned, and he slumped back onto the bean bag chair, holding his hand to his chest as he struggled to slow his breathing.

"I can't believe I fell asleep. What a horrible dream…"

"Ah, morning sleepyhead," said Nav. "Glad you enjoyed your nap."

"I don't know about _enjoyed_, but… Hey. Where are we?"

"Just outside P24-505. Welcome to Fort Evil, kiddo."

Jimmy snapped upright again. "What? We're there already?"

"See for yourself…"

Jimmy hurried over to the front of the cockpit, where Nav was reclined in the pilot's chair, absently munching on what looked like strawberries. Nav pointed out the portal, and Jimmy followed the motion with his eyes. The thick glass distorted the space beyond, channeling his vision past the spirals of stellar debris to the tiny blue planet in the distance.

"It doesn't look like much, does it?" said Nav.

"No, I guess not…"

"But you see that huge circle of rubble around it?"

"Ya?"

"That's the minefield."

"Oh."

There was a thump behind them, and Nav and Jimmy spun around to see Sheen and Carl on the ground, rubbing their heads.

"What a rush," whistled Sheen. "I had the craziest dreams."

"Me too," said Carl. "I met my future self, and he had blue hair."

Nav blinked. "Weird."

"You never know Carl," yawned Libby, rubbing her eyes, "You could be right. We haven't met your future self yet. Who's to say he _doesn't_ have blue hair?"

She stifled another yawn, and Sheen reached out a hand to help her up.

Jimmy gestured at the portal. "We'll find out soon enough. We're here, guys. Take a look."

The other kids rushed up to the control panel and eagerly peered out the window. As they exchanged comments, Jimmy cast a glance back at Cindy where she still lay sleeping on the beanbag chair. Her breaths rose and fell evenly, no trace of anger or defiance in her expression. Her blonde hair had come loose from its ponytail, and her small frame looked strangely delicate amidst the golden tangles. Jimmy's eyes grew wider as he looked at her.

"She looks…different when she's sleeping…"

"Hmm?" said Libby.

Jimmy's cheeks colored. "Oh, uh…nothing. I was just saying that someone should probably wake up Cindy."

"Go for it."

Jimmy paced over to the sleeping girl; struck by the uncharacteristic gentleness of her slumbering features, he bit his lip. As he reached down to shake her, Cindy's eyes snapped open, and she sprung up and slammed him down against the floor. Pinning him under her own body, she yanked her arm back to punch him, only to stop dead at the last moment.

"N…Neutron?" she blinked.

After the initial shock, Jimmy's face bunched up in anger. "Of course it's me!" he yelled. "And what the heck are you doing? Get off!"

Cindy released her hold on him and rapidly backed away, blushing furiously. "I'm sorry... I was having a dream about you, so when I saw you standing over me like that, I just…"

She whirled away to hide her face, and Jimmy propped himself up on one elbow, rubbing his head. "Jeez, that really hurt."

"I said I was sorry!"

"Then why don't you try acting like it?"

To Jimmy's surprise, she offered him her hand. He took it, and she pulled him up off the floor.

"Thanks."

She turned away again, this time snatching up her ponytail holder from the bean bag chair. She pulled her hair through it and tightened the knot. He looked down at the ground, red-faced, and shuffled his feet.

"Sorry," he said.

"Me too," relented Cindy.

Jimmy gave her an unsure smile. "So…you were having a dream about me? What happened?"

Cindy flushed again, but before she could answer, the conversation was interrupted by a snicker from Nav. Cindy and Jimmy's lovelorn expressions instantly vanished. Libby and the Numerian were whispering conspiratorially, making sure to keep their voices just loud enough so everyone around them could hear.

"Man, you were right, they _are_ cute!" said Nav in a fake whisper. "Look at them shamelessly flirting, oblivious to everybody else in the room!"

"I know, right? I just don't get it. Why won't they admit their feelings?"

"Sad, so sad," said Nav dramatically. "I can feel it now…the pain of unrequited love!" He flipped a thumbs-up in their direction and yelled out, voice full of mock hope. "Don't worry you two, I'm rootin' for ya! Remember that! Cindy X Jimmy _forever_!"

Libby broke into a giggle-fit, and Nav burst out laughing, slapping his chair riotously. A dark cloud simmered around Cindy and Jimmy as they glared over at them.

Cindy gritted her teeth together. "I'll kill him."

"Me first," said Jimmy.

A whoosh of air brought Nav out of hysterics, and he looked over to find Future Libby, Aurora, and April standing inside the sliding doors. Future Libby waved as April adjusted the gun holsters on her hips.

Sheen took the opportunity to make a stupid comment. "Hey look, it's the posse of looooove!~"

Nav high-fived Sheen. "Right on, man!"

"Well, I'm glad to see that our imminent life and death venture is so _hilarious_ to you," said Aurora coldly. "Or maybe you'd like to shut up for a minute?"

The room went silent.

"It's time to get serious. I need you all to concentrate. Understand?" The kids nodded solemnly. Aurora lorded over them, eyes glittering. "Then let's head down to the cargo bay. The fighters are ready."

Nav tossed back one more strawberry before joining the rest of the group as they headed down the corridor. Cindy eyed the dirty, peeling walls with disdain, as Sheen pointed enthusiastically at a patch of particularly offensive graffiti.

"Whoa-ho! That word's a doozy! Not even my crazy cousin Floyd uses _that_ one!"

Carl covered his eyes. "Dad says that's a no-no word."

"A no-no word?" repeated Sheen. "Carl, you've gotta be kidding me! That right there is the spice of life! The second I turn eighteen, every other word that comes out of my mouth is gonna be drippin' swear-sauce!"

Libby rolled her eyes. "I'll look forward to _that…_"

Cindy nearly tripped over a piece of junk lying on the floor. "Jeez, Nav, when was the last time you cleaned this heap?"

"You know, I'm not really sure…"

April shrugged. "Nav likes the _Shahada_ to feel homey and lived-in…am I right, dear?"

He winked at her. "You betcha, hotcakes."

"If by 'homey and lived-in'," snorted Aurora, "you mean 'a complete dump', then ya…"

The doors at the end of the hall swung open upon their approach, and they entered a high-ceilinged room. Scrap metal and pools of oil dotted the floor, and the acrid smell of rubber tires permeated the recycled air. Three small ships awaited them in the center of the room. Although each fighter was a different model, they all shared the same angular, cutting design. They were not much bigger than an average SUV – but their streamlined bodies were a far cry from a clunky land vehicle.

Aurora indicated the ships. "I ran a thorough systems check on all three fighters, and they seem to be perfectly operational. Unfortunately, the one closest to us wasn't designed to be piloted by an organism with humanoid anatomy. Operating it will be very tricky, so I'll take that one. April will pilot the second ship, and Nav will take the third."

"Got it," said the Numerian.

"Now, for the problem of the antidote…" She motioned to April, who handed her the two glass vials. "Since Lady Jaya took our third copy, one of our teams will have to go in without it. This is a serious disadvantage. To be fair, April and I drew lots earlier. April drew the short straw, so she and Nav will be entering without it and will therefore be employing slightly different tactics. We'll discuss this further once we get to the surface. Everyone clear? Good."

She slammed her palm down on the hood of the nearest ship, and the hatch swung open. She climbed into the pilot's seat and began punching buttons as April and Nav headed to their respective stations.

"Jimmy, Goddard, and young Libby, you're with me," directed Aurora as she adjusted the controls. "Cindy and my Libby, go with April. Nav, I regret to inform you that you're stuck with Carl and Sheen. Get on board, everyone…"

"Wait, that's it?" asked Jimmy. "We're leaving _now? _Already?"

"What did you expect? A tearful goodbye party? From this second onward, our operation becomes a ticking time bomb. Now get in the back."

With some difficulty, the passengers managed to climb into the spaces behind each of the pilots' chairs. There was very little room to spare; the top of Future Libby's head almost touched the ceiling as April's hatch lowered and clicked into place. Nav's star-roof closed with a grinding mechanical noise, sealing a widely smiling Sheen and profusely sweating Carl inside. Aurora stood and yanked her ship's top down manually. It banged shut, rocking the whole interior and almost unseating Jimmy and Libby in the process. Aurora settled herself into the pilot's chair, which had clearly been made for a creature with at least one extra pair of arms, if not more. She fished out a trio of headsets and handed two of them to her passengers, then donned the remaining one herself. Adjusting the microphone, she flicked a switch on the earpiece, and all their headsets came online in a rush of static.

"Testing, one, two, three…Can everyone hear me?"

April's voice crackled in her ear. "Affirmative."

"Loud and clear," said Nav.

"All right. We'll be using these subspace links to communicate between ships…"

Sheen broke over the comm. link. "Testing, one, two, three, testing! Ca-caw! I repeat, ca-caaaaw!"

Aurora winced. "Sheen, we're all on this channel, so try to keep your comments to yourself."

She slid the seat forward and placed her feet inside two compartments under the dashboard, then grabbed hold of what looked like dual handbrakes. She leaned backward in the chair and yanked them all the way back, and the ship's engine roared to life.

"OK everyone, strap in. Unfortunately, it'll be impossible for me to steer this ship and control weapons at the same time with only two arms, so April, I'll need you to cover me. I'll just have to rely on maneuverability to avoid the seeker drones and other weapons. Oh, and Nav? Your right auxiliary thruster sticks for some reason, so be mindful of that."

"Yup, I just noticed that. I'll compensate."

"Are there any questions?"

Sheen's voice cut in yet again. "Are we gonna have code names or something? If so, I call 'el hombre morado', and I vote 'gangstress of sass' for Libby."

"Ooh, can I be Captain Kirk?" piped in Nav. "Hans Solo? Heck, I'll even settle for Captain Janeway…"

"You can call yourself Attila the Hun for all I care! We're wasting time! April, open the bay doors!"

"Way ahead of you. I started the opening sequence. T minus ten till deployment…"

"Status?" asked Aurora.

"All systems go," replied Nav.

April counted down. "T minus five seconds…four…three…"

"All Systems check out. Buckle your seat belts, ladies and gents…"

The cargo bay filled with a phenomenal creaking sound as the bay doors shuddered open. The room popped and hissed as it decompressed.

"Contact," said Aurora.

The floor dropped out beneath them, and the three ships plummeted downward into open space. Aurora jammed the thruster forward, and the ship streaked off, leaving a trail of glittering exhaust in its wake. April and Nav's ships fell into formation behind it, the prow of the _Shahada_ quickly shrinking behind them.

"Successful takeoff achieved. Approximately two minutes until we reach the outer minefield. April, can you scan for any anomalies?"

"Roger that. Scanning…"

"Tell Roger I said he looks fat in those pants," crackled Nav's voice.

A moment or two later, a data bit appeared on all their screens, showing a slightly thinner patch in the giant cloud of mines.

"The elliptical shape of the planet has caused a gravity anomaly at five degrees on the ecliptic. We should exploit it," recommended April.

"…For those of us who don't feel like using our brains today?" asked Nav.

"There is a section of the minefield that will be easier to navigate. We should go that way."

"I knew that, I was just testing you."

The space up ahead wore a necklace of mines; they glistened in the cold of space like dew on a spider's web. The mines spun gently, waiting for trespassers brave or stupid enough to wake them from their slumber. As the field grew closer, Aurora reached under her seat and pulled out her silver mask. Without taking her eyes off her flight path, she handed the mask back to Jimmy, who accepted it quizzically.

"Why am I…?"

"Hold onto this until we reach the surface. I can't wear it while I'm piloting."

"Um. …OK…" He passed it off to Libby, who tucked it into the space beside her seat.

"Minefield penetration in T minus six," Aurora informed the others. "Flight pattern Theta, I'll take lead. Clear?"

"Clear!" said Nav and April.

"Hold onto your collective butts…" added the Numerian.

"Holding!" said Carl.

Immediately ahead, the minefield was a beaded curtain, a vertical partition dividing the nothingness.

"Break!"

Aurora's ship crossed the threshold of the minefield. At the precise moment of entry, she tapped the main throttle, throwing the ship into a corkscrew. The wings swung round, zipping through the geometry of the field in dizzying elegance. April and Nav copied the maneuver a moment later and rolled in opposite directions, spreading the three ships out across the field. The pilots evened out their course, their passengers feeling a bit woozy from the speed of the movement.

Aurora adjusted her headset. "Successful entry. What's your status?"

"All systems go," confirmed April.

"Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap!" shouted Nav. "I've got two mines tailing me…"

April slammed on the brakes, stopping so abruptly that the nose flipped up, forcing the whole ship into a 360 degree backflip. Cindy and Future Libby smacked into each other as Nav's ship rocketed past. With two perfectly timed shots, April blasted the mines trailing Nav, and they burst into a confetti-like sprinkle of soundless explosions. She took out a few more in front of Aurora, then shifted her thruster forward, streaking ahead at maximum speed until she broke even with Nav's ship.

"Hot damn, that was a sexy move!" admired Nav. "What a shot!"

In the back of April's fighter, Future Libby covered her mouth, her face greenish with nausea. "Ugh…I think I'm gonna be sick…"

Cindy scooted away. "Not in here you're not!"

"Slowly inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth," instructed April. "It helps with the motion sickness."

Future Libby folded her legs under her, assumed a meditative stance, and slowly calmed her breathing. Her steady, evenly-spaced breaths echoed over the comm. link, and Sheen burst out laughing at the sound.

"Hey Libbalicious, wanna do me a favor? Say 'I am your father' in a really sinister voice, OK?"

Nav cracked up, and their laughter mingled together in grating cacophony. Carl joined in a moment later, chuckling uncertainly.

"I don't believe it!" said Cindy. "Here I am in an alternate universe, out in space, in the middle of a life and death situation, and I'm STILL surrounded by morons!"

"They're a pan-universal constant, believe me," said Aurora dryly.

A red light started to flicker on her dashboard, and her wry smile vanished. "What the…?" A diagram popped up on the display, showing a net-like lattice of mines tightening in around their position. "Nav, April, are you reading this? Something weird is going on. There seems to be a net movement of the mines toward our position…"

"Ya, I see it too," said Nav. "It's like the individual mines are behaving under the constraints of some kind of collective programming. It's the freakiest thing ever. Any ideas?"

"We should proceed ahead at max speed and clear the field – it'll call for some tight maneuvers, but we can do it…"

Jimmy leaned forward earnestly. "No! We need to split up. The field is probably set up to gravitate toward our collective magnetic signature. If we fan out, the mines will be pulled in three directions, and the field will be easier to traverse."

"April?" asked Aurora uncertainly.

"Copy that!"

The three fighters broke formation and diverged, heading off in opposite directions. Like a flock of birds changing direction in unison, the mines split into three sections and trailed after them. April took a few potshots at the cloud closing in around Nav, and the resulting explosions threw Sheen and Carl from their seats. A panel on the dashboard overloaded from the energy discharge and blew out, sending a fountain of sparks popping onto Nav's lap. He lifted his leg and slammed his boot against the panel, containing the shower.

"Hey, take it easy April! The mines are too close to the ship for you to go all trigger-happy! Your weapons fire could fry the essential systems!"

"You are not going to have any essential systems LEFT to fry if you do not lose those mines!"

"What do you think I'm doing?" he yelled accusingly. "Painting my fingernails? I'm TRYING to lose them! My damn auxiliary thruster is on the fritz!"

The computer flickered on a second later with the following message: _Gravitational anomaly detected. Position indeterminate. Identification indeterminate. Likelihood of black hole is 80%. Evasive action recommended._

"Crap!" shouted Nav. "As if we didn't have enough to deal with! The computer can't locate the black hole, and I'm about to get blown to kingdom-come!"

"Aurora, do something!" cried April.

Aurora rolled her ship. Jimmy and Libby clung to one another in nauseous terror as the vessel careened sideways, passing only a few meters over the top of April's ship – and stealing a large number of April's mines along the way. Aurora continued to spin to the right, heading for Nav and the boys. Their flight paths intersected, and Aurora yanked her ship clear at the last minute, slamming her cloud of mines into Nav's. They collided and were obliterated in a terrific explosion of silent, blinding light. As the light traveled outward, some of it got caught up in the black hole's gravitational field, and it spiraled downward into oblivion. Nav and Aurora swerved wide to avoid the tiny event horizon, and the three ships cruised past together, the number of mines in proximity to their vessels now greatly reduced.

"Spectacular, Aurora!" cheered Future Libby. "That was amazin'!"

"I'll say!" agreed Nav. "You just saved my lily-white arse! When this is over, I am _so_ getting a tattoo of your face on my face…"

Libby held her stomach, hiccuping queasily. "You wouldn't think it was so 'spectacular' if you were in my place right now…"

Jimmy's face was equally ashen. "Really, Aurora…is there any way to make this flight LESS like a rollercoaster? I feel like my insides are being put through a blender."

"Just be thankful that we have inertial dampeners, or you'd probably have bloody noses right now."

Libby held her nose. "Charming…"

The group proceeded onward, trails of dust glittering off the exhaust in their wake. April took out a few more mines along the way, and Nav flipped the bird out the side window.

"Kiss my ass, minefield! Woohoohoo!"

"Haha!" laughed Sheen. "I get to ride in a crazy spaceship AND hear swear words! This day just got awesome!"

"Nav, pay attention!" called out Aurora. "The field is contracting again!"

"Don't worry about it! We're almost through, see?"

Sure enough, the end of the minefield was visible up ahead. Aurora squinted into the distance, then breathed in sharply.

"What is it, Aurora?" asked Jimmy.

"We've got a problem…"

The computer flashed a 3-D image of their position, and then rotated to show their trajectory. At the edge of the minefield, hundreds of tiny energy signatures zipped about erratically, dipping, rising, and doubling back on themselves.

Nav frowned. "Aurora, what the hell are those?"

"Seeker drones…but there's way more of them than there were three years ago."

"There's no way we can make it through that!" he exclaimed. "We'd be toast as soon as we left the minefield."

"We have another problem," said April. "The mines are closing in again. If we slow our course, I'm not sure we'll be able to evade them."

Aurora's grip tightened on the chair's dual thrusters, anger and shame coloring her cheeks. "Damn it, I miscalculated! I didn't expect there to be such a large increase in the number of drones. He must have tightened the barrier…"

"We have 120 seconds Aurora," said April coolly. "What do you want us to do?"

She considered, her face drawn tight in thought. "If we could just get through the first line of seekers, we might be able to make it. The seeker drones work by locking onto your heat signal. If we could distract them somehow, we could pass through. Unfortunately it would take quite a bit of energy to lure them away from our position…and short of a suicide mission, I can't think of any way to generate that kind of heat."

"Wait a minute," broke in Jimmy. "Did you say 'suicide mission'?"

"Let's not even consider that option just yet…"

"No, no, you don't understand! I just had an idea. What if I sent Goddard ahead of us and had him 'play dead'? The resulting explosion should produce enough energy to overshadow our own heat signatures. We'd be able to get through the seeker drone barrier, provided we move quickly enough."

Aurora snapped her fingers. "That would work! Ah man, and it wouldn't be the first time that little trick has saved our necks …But are you sure you're willing to risk Goddard like that? He could easily be destroyed, and losing him now could jeopardize the rest of our mission."

"90 seconds."

"I understand the risk," he said. "But this is our only option. Goddard, you'd be willing to do this for me, right boy?" He looked over his shoulder at his pet, who whimpered in the affirmative. "All right. You know what to do, right? Make sure to wait until we've reached the threshold of the field. As soon as we're through, reassemble and meet us down on the planet."

"Bark bark!"

Jimmy reached out and petted him affectionately. "All right, Aurora, how do we deploy him?"

"Have him crawl into the back. I'll seal it off and open the hatch."

Jimmy nudged Goddard, who shuffled into the tiny compartment behind the seats, tail between his legs. Aurora opened a panel on the side of the cockpit and punched a purple button, and a sliding pane whooshed down, releasing Goddard. He floated directionless for a moment, disoriented, and nearly collided with a wayward mine. Jimmy pressed himself against the glass, shouting out a useless warning.

"Goddard, look out!"

At the last second, Goddard righted himself and avoided the danger. Changing direction, he zipped out of the belly of the minefield and toward the lines of zigzagging seeker drones.

"30 seconds…" came April's voice.

"Wait!" yelped Nav. "What the heck is going on? You've totally lost me!"

"Stay your course!" ordered Aurora. "Just keep your current heading."

"All right, but if I end up with a missile up my ass, it's your fault…"

"Acknowledged."

The three ships cruised toward the end of the field, with Goddard flying just ahead. He increased his speed, thrusters vivid against the velvety black backdrop. He veered off far to the right as the edge of the minefield grew nearer. Jimmy shut his eyes tight, and Goddard shot out of the cloud of mines, exploding into a hundred pieces in a flash of heat and light. Instantly, a horde of seeker drones changed direction and headed toward the disturbance, leaving a gap just big enough to permit the entry of a few small ships. The fighters streaked past, clearing the front line and hurtling toward the planet at breakneck speed. The drones detected their presence a moment later, and with eerie synchronization, reversed direction and pursued their new quarry.

"Maximum speed ahead!" cried Aurora hoarsely. "We have to outrun them!"

She slammed the thruster into a higher gear with her foot, while simultaneously reaching up and yanking open a panel on the roof of the cockpit. She grabbed at a mass of tangled blue and red cords, and, climbing precariously onto the arms of her chair, hot-wired a few of the cables together using her green fire. She dropped back down and jammed the thruster all the way forward, and sparks spouted from the roof. She gritted her teeth, and the ship rocketed forward at a bone-jarring pace, the hull straining under the increased speed.

April's frantic voice crackled over the comm. link as Aurora pushed the craft to its limit. "Aurora, what are you doing? Did you just bypass your ship's limiter grid? You will burn out your engines! These things cannot sustain that level of energy output!"

"It'll hold! We just have to make it to the atmosphere where the seeker drones can't follow!"

April shot her plasma weapons in a fan pattern, wiping out the line of drones approaching their position. "What about our escape?" she yelled into her headpiece. "Shouldn't we be preserving the integrity of our ships so we can get away afterward?"

"Survival is our main priority right now! There won't BE an afterward if we don't get down to the surface. Now hot-wire your damn engines!"

There was a moment of static over the headphones, and then both Nav and April's ships sputtered forward, careening toward the exosphere alongside Aurora's. Jimmy looked back toward the minefield, anxiously searching the debris for signs of Goddard.

"It's not working, Aurora!" bellowed Nav. "I've got a conga line of these suckers a mile long behind me!"

"Shut up and go faster!" she yelled, eyes shut tight.

"My ship isn't as fast as yours, numbskull! The auxiliary thruster is busted, remember? I can't keep up!"

Sheen held tight to the chair, hair standing on end from the stray electrical charges spit out by the engines. "Ah man, we're about to be turned into chunky salsa…AGAIN!"

"More like sub-atomic space toast," said Nav. "…not that we'd be able to tell the difference…"

As the drones closed the gap, Aurora twisted around to look at the kids, flying blind. "Guys, hold on tight. We're about to hit the atmosphere, and with this angle of descent, it's gonna be rough."

"Um…could you maybe…look where you're going please?" quaked Libby.

Aurora grabbed the controls and aimed the fighter toward the wispy outer vestiges of atmosphere.

"We should slow down or change direction!" insisted April. "At this speed, we could burn up in the mesosphere!"

"Negative! Hit it straight on…the drones will burn up before we do! Besides, if we deviate too much from our current course, the _Half Life_ will be more likely to detect us. I don't see it now, so it's probably on the other side of the planet. We should…"

At that moment, a ray of blue energy pierced the hull of Aurora's ship, blowing off the right wing and flooding the cockpit with plumes of super-heated smoke.

"AURORA!" screamed Future Libby.

"Aurora!" gasped Nav, his voice panicked. "Holy shit, are you OK?"

Inside the damaged vessel, Aurora pulled herself up, shoulder muscles straining as she coughed on the fumes. She wiped a blob of engine grease from her cheek, leaving behind an unsightly smear. She squinted back at her two passengers, who were hacking on smoke heavy with toxic fumes and the odor of burnt electronics. She spat out blood, then turned to glare out her cracked front portal.

"I'm fine," she said in a low voice. "Don't worry about me."

"Aurora?"

"…I can't believe I didn't see that coming…" she murmured breathlessly.

The _Half Life _rose over the shining curve of the planet, menacing and terrible in its perfection. Its atom-embossed fuselage glinted in the light of the distant sun, and Aurora stared it down, fury burning in her eyes, as if the force of her anger alone could halt its approach. She slammed her fist down on the control panel, which fizzled weakly as the crippled ship plummeted toward the planet below. She screamed at the _Half Life,_ sending chills down Jimmy and Libby's spines.

"Well, what are you waiting for! Go on, I dare you! Shoot me! Shoot me out of the sky! Do it!"

The _Half Life_ hovered motionless, its silence made all the more eerie by the intensity of Aurora's screams. It began charging its main weapons, but before it could release the killing shot, the atmosphere of the planet roared up on all sides of them, engulfing the fighters in a blazing cocoon. Aurora's ship rattled uncontrollably as friction ripped off bits of the hull; they floated off elegantly, handfuls of spangled dust thrown to the wind. The sensation of free fall filled up their veins like a creeping tar, and Future Libby let loose an irrational, terrified scream.

"Stoooop! Make it stop!"

They continued to spiral downward. Aurora searched the cockpit frantically, tossing aside ruined bits of plastic and metal as she dug around. "Eject…eject…where's the eject? Where is it? …Ah!"

She slammed her palm down on the flat button, but the system didn't respond. Instead, the computer flickered on and issued a garbled, pathetic warning:

"Warn..g…plan..tary…impact in…sixt….econds…"

"What the?…work, damn you!" She pounded on the button a few times more, but to no avail. "OK, this is bad. This is very bad. We need to get out of this heap, NOW. It's gonna crash, no question."

April and Nav zoomed up alongside her, reverse thrusters slowing their entry.

"Aurora, abandon ship!" called April. "There is breathable atmosphere now."

"I know, I'm trying!" she returned desperately. "But the eject pod isn't working, and we can't jump from this height…"

"I could try to catch you on my ship…"

"You've been watching too many bad action movies, Nav! We'd end up splattered against your windshield. No, no…that wouldn't work…aaah, Neutron, now would be a _really_ good time for a brilliant idea on your end!"

Jimmy blanched, but then something outside the ship caught his attention, and he broke into an ear-to-ear grin.

"Look!" He pointed out the window past the smoldering wing. There, newly reassembled and completely unharmed, was Goddard, zipping airily through the tiered white clouds.

"Goddard!" exclaimed Libby.

Aurora grabbed hold of her seat. "Neutron, could Goddard carry the three of us down to the ocean's surface?"

"My thoughts exactly! Give me the radio – I'll try to reconfigure it and hail his frequency."

"No time! Besides, I have a simpler idea…"

Aurora closed her eyes, and torrents of energy spilled down her arms and coalesced around her fingers. She swung her fists upward, blasting a hole in the roof of the ship. Chunks of molten metal flew off, and instantly a river of clawing air burst into the cockpit. She threw off her headset and vaulted into the back seat, pulling the two kids close to her.

"Hold onto my waist!"

They obeyed, and she grabbed hold of the fractured edge and hoisted herself up, hair whipping in the roaring wind. She helped up Jimmy and Libby behind her and, crouching perilously on the rooftop, waved to Goddard.

Jimmy shouted to his pet. "Goddard! Execute rescue maneuver delta delta seven!"

The whole world plunged past them as the robot canine veered in their direction. The streaming air cut lines around Aurora's blue space suit, her ponytail standing straight on end. As he approached, Goddard's back compartment opened up and transformed into a long panel. He pulled up alongside the doomed craft, and Aurora yanked Jimmy and Libby from their perch and placed them onto Goddard's back. Eyes shut tight against the tugging air, they gripped the edge of their seat until their knuckles ached. Aurora tumbled forward onto Goddard, and he swerved away from the burning fighter, gradually slowing the pace of their descent.

"Goddard, fly up!" shouted Aurora.

The fighter plummeted seaward, smoke pouring from the remains of its right wing. Aurora gazed down past her feet, watching in grim silence as the craft screeched to its death. It slammed into the water and catapulted sideways, skipping across the surface in a maelstrom of smoke, fire, and cascading spray. At last it skittered to a stop, and a mushroom cloud of dark fire burst out over the twisted remains.

"That was way,_ way _too close…" exhaled Jimmy shakily.

The raging fire began to die down, and Goddard and the two ships descended to sea level. They shifted the fighters into low power, hovering a few feet above the waves. Aurora pulled up alongside, and Nav retracted his rooftop. He chucked his headset over his shoulder, smacking Carl in the face. He hopped out of the pilot's seat and ran across the wing to meet her, exhilaration and terror on his face.

"Holy buckets of bullshit, Aurora! When that plasma beam hit you, I thought you were a goner for sure!" He spread his arms for a hug, but when she didn't oblige, he reached out and rubbed Goddard's head, smiling gratefully. "Good thing you were there, eh, tinny? That would not have been a pleasant way for our intrepid heroine to go."

Aurora handed Libby and Jimmy over to Nav, who plunked them unceremoniously onto the wing beside him. April unbuckled her safety belt and helped Future Libby and Cindy extricate themselves from the backseat. April stood and stretched, bouncing a little to get her blood flowing again.

"That was exciting, wasn't it? And I am very glad you are unharmed, Aurora."

Future Libby groaned, stumbling out onto the wing of the ship. "Ugh. I've never felt so sick in my life…"

"Considering you didn't blow chunks," said Nav, "I'd say you did incredibly well for a first timer."

Sheen leaped from his chair, clawed his way out of the cockpit, and darted up behind Nav. "That was WICKED! I feel just like I did that time I got stuck upside down for five hours on the _Bat Outta Heck_ ride at Retroland!" He jumped up and down in place beside Nav, his orange Ultralord spacesuit sequined with reflections from the water. He tugged on the tall man's gray coat, changing topics in an instant. "Hey Nav…how the heck are you gonna swim in that DRESS?"

Nav looked down at his trench coat. "Ya know, you've got a point. This thing would be kind of cumbersome underwater. Well, I guess there's only one thing to do. Ladies, you might want to avert your eyes…"

He reached down and dramatically ripped off the bottom half of the garment, and the tearing noise echoed out over the open ocean. He held the torn segment aloft like a triumphant banner, then chucked it to the side. It fluttered to the water's surface, before sinking into darkness amid a host of bubbles. He planted his hands on his hips, superhero-style, his giant studded boots shining in the sun.

Future Libby giggle-snorted noisily, punch-drunk on adrenaline and motion sickness. "Nice boots! And are those…space chaps?"

Nav slapped his thighs, then tugged on the pair of chaps layered over his normal pants. "Sort of, but not exactly. More like a leg-length gun holster, or a body-hugging storage compartment…" He slid his hand down his leg, yanking out knives, tools, and baubles from hidden pockets in the leathery fabric. "Perfect for stashing stolen items!" A couple of shiny coins seemed to jump out of nowhere into his hand, and he flashed them at Cindy and Libby. "Here is the money you lovely girls _thought_ you stole from me." Their surprise gave way to embarrassed blushes, and in a flash Nav tossed the coins into the air, caught them, and rolled them through his fingers. He closed his fists, and in an instant, they were gone. "I'm a walking bank vault. I never lose stuff this way…"

Aurora, who had up until that moment been standing quietly on Goddard, reached down and touched his metal ear. "Speaking of losing stuff…Goddard, would you please take me closer to the wreckage?"

Goddard yipped in response, then sped away with Aurora balanced in a low crouch on his back.

"Wait," called April. "Aurora! Where are you going?"

"I'll be back in a minute!"

Goddard neared the smoldering Sargasso. Patches of oil and engine fluid still burned on the surface of the water, sending up plumes of smoke into the air. He flew lower, and Aurora squinted into the metallic flotsam, searching. At last she spotted her target, and Goddard brought her down. She leaned over and scooped her silver mask from among a tangle of sparking wires. The force of the explosion had ripped the mask in two, leaving only the lower portion intact. She barely noticed as Nav and April, back behind the wheels of their respective ships, pulled up alongside her.

"What is it?" asked Jimmy.

She turned to them, fitting the mask onto her face as she did so. While her nose and most of her mouth were safely hidden, the damage left the upper half of her face uncovered.

Nav let out a sympathetic whistle. "That sucks, Aurora. On the bright side, now you look like a crazy badass space ninja. Or maybe a psychotic surgeon. Either way, I dig."

Aurora turned away, neurotically combing her fingers through her bangs. "You don't get it! The whole point of the mask is to hide my face. How can I…without the whole thing…" Goddard whimpered a little, and the others merely waited for her to regain control. At last she clicked back into her normal steely posture. "Set the ship's coordinates to 35 degrees, 12 minutes, 30 seconds North by 123 degrees, 2 minutes, 18 seconds West. That's where his base is."

April punched in the coordinates, then called out to Aurora. "We're actually very close already. We can make it there in about 2 minutes at low propulsion."

"I was afraid of that. At that distance, he probably detected us when my ship crashed."

"What should we do?"

"It doesn't matter. We should proceed according to plan."

"Copy that." Nav kicked the thruster forward, and his ship zoomed off like a speedboat, churning the waves beneath him into a frenzy of bubbling white-caps. April and Goddard followed him, the cool sea breeze blowing pleasantly over them. The air was fresh and salty, the sun sparkled off the clean water, and from a distance the whole scene seemed to fit perfectly with the image of a youthful summer outing.

Nav leaned back, bobbing his head. "Check me out, cruisin' in my ride, pickin' up chicks…"

"Man, you really HAVE been watching too many movies…" said Cindy.

"It's not my fault that Earth culture is _awesome._"

The navigational computer pinged to signal their arrival at their destination, and the ships slowed to a halt. April switched off her vital systems, leaving only a low-energy hover protocol online. Nav copied her action, then hoisted Libby, Jimmy, Sheen, and Carl from the back seat. He clambered up onto the nose of the ship, hooting enthusiastically.

"All right! Are you guys ready to GET WET?"

" …Nav, your innuendo does not impress anyone," said April.

"Um, that wasn't meant to be innuendo…"

"..."

Aurora jumped off Goddard and landed on Nav's ship, and the mechanical canine folded back into his original shape and touched down beside her. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted to summon the others.

"All right, everyone gather round!"

April stomped out onto the hood of her fighter, motioning for Future Libby and Cindy to follow. The two girls climbed over the front seat and joined April, who shocked the lot of them by grabbing Cindy, hoisting her into the air, and pitching her across the gap between the two ships.

"Nav, catch!"

Cindy squealed as she sailed in a wide arc, legs pumping furiously. Like a falling cat, she twisted to change her trajectory, only to plow face-first into Nav's waiting arms. She reeled back and gasped for air, her cheeks burning with surprise and anger. She scowled up at Nav, who responded by cuddling her obnoxiously. She squirmed, and he laughed at her annoyance.

"Put her down, Nav, or I'll put _you_ down," said Aurora sternly.

"Fine, fine…"

Still smiling, he plunked a red-faced Cindy down. She attempted to straighten her disheveled hair before leveling a death glare at Jimmy, who laughed nervously and inched away a couple of steps.

April turned to Future Libby. "All right, up we go…"

Future Libby stepped back, waving the other woman away. "I uh…I'd really rather not be thrown, thanks…"

"All right then. I will carry you."

April scooped up the smaller woman, who squeaked and wrapped her arms tight around the Gorlock's neck. April backed up a few feet, then took a running jump off the tip of the nose. She barreled through the air and thumped loudly onto the other ship's fuselage, leaving a dent in the metal beneath her feet. April released Future Libby, who quickly pulled down her skirt, which had migrated north during the course of the jump.

Nav blinked. "That was...kind of hot."

The others chose not to comment on April's mode of transport, and instead clustered around Aurora. She pulled out her vial of antidote, and Cindy produced the kids' copy.

"OK. We have two chances to make this work. Once we're inside the base, things will get very dangerous. You kids need to stick together, and if possible, remain undetected. I'd rather not have you engage in combat unless absolutely necessary. If you encounter the Dictator, use the antidote – but make _sure_ to wait until you have a clean shot, or he could catch onto our whole plan. Nav and April, your prerogative will be to cause as much destruction as you can."

Nav and April grinned at each other in fiendish delight, and the latter cocked one of her weapons.

"Keep the guard bots busy," continued Aurora, "and take out as much of the weapons arsenal as you can. Libby will be with me, because otherwise I'd spend the whole time worrying about her. Now, Jimmy, where is the air gum?"

Jimmy removed a handful of the gum from Goddard's back compartment, then took out another set of pieces from his pocket. He handed them out to the group. "Once you start chewing, you will be able to breathe and talk underwater as well as tolerate extreme pressure. The effect will last between 15 and 20 minutes, so make sure to get onto dry land before then."

Aurora nodded at Jimmy. "OK guys, this is it. Say a prayer, close your eyes, and down the hatch…"

She popped the gum into her mouth, and the others did the same. After a couple of seconds, the world took on a fuzzy, lightweight quality, and their movements seemed to come in slow motion. Aurora gestured at the water, fitting her mask over her face as she did so. April, Nav, Aurora, Future Libby, and the kids walked in unison to the edge of the ship. Lined up side by side, they stood like a row of game pieces against a cheery sky. Without another word, they all jumped, and the sickeningly warm water closed over their heads and sealed out the sunlit world above.

* * *

Kudos to those of you who spotted the references to the following: Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Star Trek, The Jimmy Neutron Movie, City Slickers 2: The Search for Curly's Gold, and any and all bad action films

_P.S._ A word on chaps, for those of you who don't know what they are...  
They are typically worn over pants, usually by cowboys, hardcore bikers, or strippers (LOL). It should be noted that only really hot people can pull them off. Anyone else just looks ridiculous.

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	36. Under Pressure

Crap...seems I uploaded chapter 38 by mistake last time. Sorry guys! Here's the correct chappie, and accompanying illustration: de viant art(dotcom)/art/Thinktank-205766128**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 36: Under Pressure**

A deep, directionless static permeated the watery world, speaking to the untold fathoms of a planet covered in ocean. The divers found themselves looking at their surroundings through an emerald tinted lens; sunlight danced on the surface above, funneling broken rays into the submarine realm. Aurora pointed toward the distant seafloor, where the indistinct outlines of the Dictator's base lay in silence.

"There's our destination…"

Jimmy looked over at Goddard, who had encased himself in a translucent, watertight force-shield. "Goddard, activate Security Protocol Nine Seven Dash Alpha…increase output by 300 percent, and compensate for all audio, thermal, visual, and kinetic signatures."

He responded with a muffled bark, then booted up the security protocol. A moment later an energy pulse left the protective bubble and rippled outward, forming an invisible circumference around the divers. Aurora rotated to face Jimmy, yellow hair tangling and blowing in the undersea breeze.

"Neutron, what was that?"

"A slight modification to a feature I built into Goddard a while back…the energy field he's generating will hide all life signatures within a thirty foot radius. True, it won't do you guys much good once we split up inside the base, but at least for now DJ won't be able to pinpoint our position in the water."

Aurora nodded grimly, and motioned for the others to follow her. She swam down, ponytail trailing behind her like a ribbon. Future Libby struggled to keep up, stopping every few strokes to tug on her dress. Nav followed closely, no doubt to enjoy the view, and the kids paddled awkwardly behind him. April, alert and armed, brought up the rear.

Jimmy glanced back. "April, your guns must be waterproof, right?"

"Of course. They're Gorlock weapons. On a planet with daily rainstorms and an average humidity of 99%, waterproof firearms are a necessity."

"I wish this _outfit_ were waterproof!" exclaimed Future Libby, still pulling on her dress. "Oh, why did I wear this? The saltwater is ruinin' the fabric!"

"_Weeeell_," offered Sheen, "you _could_ always take it off…"

Libby reached out to smack him, but the friction of the water rendered the action ineffectual. He laughed and twirled around, tiny bubbles lodging in the folds of his orange suit before rising in a merry procession toward the surface.

"Haha! You cannot hurt me! I am invincible! I am untouchable! I…eww! I just swam through a warm spot! Carl, that better not've been you!"

Carl's cheeks colored as he wobbled ungracefully through the water. "Sorry…I thought no one would notice…"

"Ah, man, this isn't your own private toilet! I just breathed that in, dude!"

Nav sniggered. "And thus we see that, no matter what the situation, bathroom humor continues to be funny…"

"For _you_, maybe…" shot back Cindy.

As the seabed drew nearer, Aurora maneuvered herself upright and glided down the rest of the way. Future Libby floundered behind her, kicking up a cloud of silt as she touched down. Nav and April sunk to the ground a moment later, their vision temporarily impeded by the suspended particles. As the sediment settled, the combatants found themselves on an endless plain of sand. The seafloor extended out as far as the eye could see, sculpted into gentle rolling dunes by the waves far above.

"There it is," breathed Aurora.

The kids, floating in the water at eye level, turned to face the marine fortress. Like a city frozen in space and time, the complex sprawled out over a vast tract of ocean. Its mottled green, blue, and brown walls blended in with the undulating water.

"Wow," remarked Libby after a pause. "It's so…"

"Labyrinthine?" supplied Jimmy.

"I was gonna say 'huge', but that works too…"

Aurora, all business, motioned for them to speed things up. "This way…"

She led them across the silty bottom, stirring up plumes of sand with each footfall. Sheen, noticing the character of their procession, interjected.

"Oh man, this reminds me of that scene from _Pirates of the Mediterranean –_ you know, the one where Captain GarrrGrossa had all the skeletons walk underwater…"

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Much as I appreciate your wasted youth, Sheen, now is hardly the time for movie references."

The group fell into silence as they slipped closer to the Dictator's base. Aurora kicked off the bottom and moved smoothly over to the main wall, parting the curtain of languid seaweed that swayed along the rim of the building. The others filed up beside her, and she pointed to a round opening half-clogged with sediment and barnacles.

"Here's the entrance to the water pressure valve. This one goes to Sector 3 and the central armory – which means Nav and April, you guys are up." The pair paddled forward to examine the opening more closely as Aurora completed her instructions. "The fit is going to be a bit tight at first, but once you're inside the duct, travel about 50 feet, and then break through the floor. Make a good showing of it, too. As soon as you're on dry ground, blast the hell out of anything and everything that comes your way. It has to be loud and flashy – Neutron needs to _know_ that you guys are a diversion. If he believes that you two are meant to distract him, he'll ignore you and come looking for me instead – which is exactly what we want."

April scratched her cheek. "So…we are a diversion whose purpose is to do the exact opposite of what a diversion normally does?"

"More or less."

Nav shook his head, impressed. "Man, Aurora, I tell ya. You missed your calling as a criminal mastermind. You really do have a devious head on those shoulders. You deserve that spot as _7th Samarkandi _even more than I do."

April pinched him on the arm. "Give yourself more credit, Nav! You are a superbly talented felon."

Nav rubbed the soon-to-be bruise. "Ow, April, you really are too kind…"

After adjusting her helmet, April stopped to take stock of her myriad array of weapons. Satisfied, she turned and wriggled headfirst into the open duct, kicking her legs to propel her into the dark interior. Nav grabbed hold of the edge a few seconds afterward, then turned to the crowd behind him and winked.

"Catch you on the other side, ladies and gents."

He disappeared with a smile, and the remainder of the group looked to Aurora.

"OK kids, here's the deal. The entrance to Sector 2 is on the arm of the base just to the left of this one. It should be fairly easy for you guys to access the duct. I'm not sure what awaits your arrival in that part of the fortress, so be on your guard. As soon as you are able, see if you can use Goddard to hack into the central computer or even just access the auxiliary security system. Shut down weapons, surveillance, communication – anything you can. Any leeway you can give the rest of us would be extremely helpful."

"Understood," said Jimmy.

"Libby and I are going to Sector 5, which is located on the other side of the base, two arms to the right of our current position. By the time we get inside, Nav and April should already be working their magic. I'll trust that you guys will be doing the same. Well, I guess this is it. Be careful, and please don't die."

With these terse parting words, the two factions swam in opposite directions. Jimmy waited until Aurora and Future Libby disappeared around the bend, then turned to face the others, easily slipping back into his usual role as leader of the group.

"All right guys. Follow me."

He led them along the edge of the fortress, all the while keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. Goddard floated close behind, safe inside his bubble of air, as Jimmy guided the others down the path between the wall and the curtain of seaweed. They plodded along, and the silence grew, filling the space around them until it became an entity in its own right - an eerie, directionless hum circulating through the deep water. As they neared the entrance to the duct, even Sheen could not conceal his apprehension.

"Hey J-Jim, are we there yet?" he asked. "I'm so freaked I can't even think of a good Ultralord reference!"

"Keep it together, Sheen. Look, here's the entry point…"

Cindy stepped forward to enter the duct, but Jimmy stopped her with a wave of his hand. "No…wait a minute. I just thought of something. Goddard, can you scan for sensors around the mouth of the duct?"

His pet nodded, then opened his mouth and commenced the scan. Jimmy squinted down at the results, and everyone else crowded around him to get a look, only to find themselves staring at a seemingly incomprehensible sequence of numbers.

"Hmm…interesting…" murmured the boy.

Libby leaned back and shook her head. "How you can understand anythin' from that pile of numbers is beyond me…"

"It's not that complicated, really. Basically, Goddard's scan indicates that there is a network of advanced sensors on the interior of the ducts."

"Oh no!" cried Carl. "We'll never get through without him seeing us!"

Jimmy waved away his concern. "No, no, this is a good thing! His sensors won't be able to pick us up as long as we stay within 30 feet of Goddard. Plus, if I'm interpreting these results correctly (and I'm 99.97% sure I am), then the sensors are linked into the central computer."

Cindy motioned impatiently. "Which means…"

"Which _means_ I can kill two birds with one stone and hack into the security system at the same time we're traveling through the duct."

"Oooh!" shouted Sheen. "…I don't get it."

"Don't concern yourself with the details, Sheen. Let's just make it through, and I'll handle the complicated stuff."

"You're the genius."

Jimmy motioned for Goddard to go ahead, and the robot dog-paddled through the round portal and into the inner passage. Jimmy entered a second later, and Carl, Sheen, and Libby followed close behind him, with Cindy bringing up the rear. Inside the duct, the passageway was dimly lit and cramped, and an internal current tugged on their hair and clothing. Creaking metallic echoes ran up and down the length of the tube, and Libby bit her nails, shoulders clenched tight with fear.

"I feel like the walls are closin' in around me!"

Cindy frowned. "Libs, I didn't know you were claustrophobic."

"I'm not. I'm just a _little _wigged that I'm under one hundred feet of crushin' water on my way into the lair of a psychopath."

"Ah. Understandable."

Jimmy fiddled with his watch as he calibrated the settings, then shouted ahead to Goddard. "All right, boy. I need you to interface wirelessly with the central computer, OK? Once you do, I'm going to relay my instructions to you verbally, and I need you to convert them into binary and send them over the link."

"Mmmbark bark! Grr, rrr, mbbark! Bark!"

"Ah, I see. Keep trying…"

"Aow, bark bark!"

"Really? OK, try again, and make _sure_ the packet sniffer doesn't detect the network intrusion…"

Sheen and Libby shrugged to each other as Jimmy and his pet carried on with their indecipherable conversion.

"Did you get it?"

"Baaaark!"

"Excellent! OK, I'll input the first password. Ready? OK." Jimmy cleared his throat. "3.1415926535897 932384626433832795 0288419716939937 51058209 7494459230…"

"Whoa, there!" recoiled Sheen. "What the heck?"

"…7816406286 20899862 803482 534211706 79821480865 132823066. OK, part two of the password: 2.7182818284 5904523536…. "

"Whoa, seriously Neutron, what _are _you doing?"

"When I was ten years old, I came up with the ideal password. It includes the first 121 digits of pi, followed by the first 20 of Euler's number, followed by the number of characters in the ancient Mayan script, followed by the square root of the number of times I tried to build Goddard before I succeeded, followed by a long number equation using base 8, followed by numerical representations of my parents' names spelled backward, followed by the French word for the color of my rocket, followed by…"

"OK, OK, we get it! Jeez! But why are you reciting all that nonsense now?"

"Because, like I said, it is the _ideal_ password. Nobody other than myself could ever remember, yet alone come up with, the exact sequence of numbers and letters that are contained within it. My older self would be a fool not to use it as the base password for the central computer. Now, if you wouldn't mind being quiet so I could finish…"

They group proceeded onward in awed silence as Jimmy rattled off a list long enough to make their heads spin.

"Ooh! Ooh!" said Sheen excitedly. "He said the number 43! That's my favorite number, 'cause that's how many Ultralord action figures can fit on the shelf above my bed!"

"Oh, and he said mine too!" smiled Carl. "Wanna know what it is?"

Libby shook her head. "Not really…"

He continued anyway. "My favorite number is number 2! Wanna know why? 'Cause it's not first, but it's still a good number!"

"Why are you tellin' me this?"

Cindy rolled her eyes flamboyantly, then gestured ahead at Jimmy. "Because, Libs, we're trying to kill time while Spewtron over there lists every known number in existence."

"Hey, you wanna be quiet back there? Jeez! 48339583...…"

After one final sequence, Jimmy completed his recitation. "OK Goddard, that's it. It'll probably require a DNA match as well, so upload my genetic code along with the password I've just given you."

"Mmm, bark bark!" Goddard's eyes glowed a brighter shade of white as he sent the information over the wireless link. A moment later, he made a pinging sound, and then projected a holographic image of the base directory into the water above him.

"All right!" exalted Jimmy. "Way to go boy! We're in!"

The others cheered in response. Sheen attempted to chest-bump Libby, but she deftly side-stepped, and he ended up banging into the wall instead. Trying not to grin at their antics, Jimmy turned his attention to his watch, which he used to scroll through the directory. He scrutinized the files and permissions intently, then frowned. "Hmm, that's odd…"

"What is it?" asked Cindy. "What are you looking for?"

"I can access a lot of sensitive information, like schematics, experimental data, and surveillance, but there doesn't seem to be a lot in the way of executable commands. No, wait, here's something…"

The travelers continued on in observant silence. Completely engrossed in his search, Jimmy almost blundered into the wall ahead.

"Whoa!" he said, reeling back. "Guess we've reached the end of the passage. But hold on just a second, let me finish…" He sifted through a few more databases, then finally snapped his fingers. "Aha! Here's something I can use! It's the command root for the weapons array in all 5 Sectors. Disable that, and any weapons tied directly to the main computer will be offline. It won't help with robotic personnel, but then again I didn't expect to be able to do that anyway. OK, Goddard, I want you to use a brute force packet method to freeze the security protocols."

"Mmmbark!"

"Is it working?"

"Grrr bark bark!"

"Good. Now, let me look for one more thing…"

The others stood around helplessly as Jimmy engaged in computing far beyond their understanding. He entered another long string of numbers and letters, then scratched his head. "That is _so_ weird. I mean, as I had anticipated, I'm not having any trouble navigating the system – after all, it's set up in the exact same logical pattern I would use – but I still can't break through to the main controls. Everything seems to be protected by layers and layers of encryptions and pass-codes. I've tried all the techniques I would normally use to protect this kind of information, but it's not working. Clearly my older self knows some tricks that I don't…"

"Well I should hope so," said Cindy. "I mean, his inventions actually _work…"_

"_And_ he's a murderous sociopath who destroyed earth and killed everyone we know and love. So take your pick. Malfunctioning inventions, or global annihilation…" His retort immediately put an end to her snide remarks, and Jimmy went back to his search. "Aha! Here's something, though I'm not entirely sure what it is…"

"Jimmy, shouldn't we be gettin' outta this duct soon?" reminded Libby anxiously. "I mean, the 15 minutes must be almost up."

"Good point. I guess I can continue this once we get into the open air. Hmm, I'm a bit hesitant to cut through the duct, though. If we destroy one of the sensors, it'll probably alert him to our presence in this Sector. I should disable them first…" He scrolled through the directory until he located the target of his search. "This looks like the right one. At least, I hope it is. OK, here goes nothing…"

He disabled the protocol, and almost instantly the duct was filled with a deafening rushing sound.

"Uh-oh…that can't be good…"

A wall of fast moving water slammed into the kids, throwing them against the wall and pinning them in place.

"Shut it down Goddard!" gasped Jimmy desperately. "Shut it down!"

Goddard quickly reversed the changes, and the pressure relented. The kids floated back to the floor like wayward leaves, shaken and slightly battered.

"Ugh!" coughed Cindy. "What the heck was that about? What did you _do_?"

"My fault! Turning off the sensors also turned off the water pressure regulator. The underwater current that had been previously held at bay was just unleashed. Luckily, we're not in the part of the base where the current is strongest, or we might have been seriously injured. Don't worry about it, though – Goddard re-stabilized the flow."

"Whatever you say, Neutron. Just get us out of this blasted tube, will ya?!"

Jimmy complied, aiming his watch laser at a small rectangular section on the roof of the duct. After cutting a square hole, he swam up and pressed his hand against the cutaway piece, and the water pressure sent it shooting out into the room above. He then helped the others swim to the surface. One by one, they rolled out onto the quickly-flooding floor above, gasping as their lungs drew in fresh oxygen. Jimmy pulled himself out last, sending droplets of water flying as he breached the surface. He retrieved the chunk of metal that had been removed and fit it back into place.

"All right Goddard, seal the cut!"

Two red beams emanated from the mechanical canine's eyes, fusing the seams and damming the flow of water. When the last plume of smoke had curled into invisibility, the kids slumped over in relief.

"We're in…" breathed Libby shakily.

A long moment of silence followed, broken only by the gentle sloshing of the ankle-deep water. Vein-like aquamarine reflections danced over the gray walls, filling the chamber with their quiet light. Somewhere in the distance, water dripped rhythmically. Jimmy wrung out his outlandish hairdo as Cindy splish-splashed over to him.

"Neutron, you don't think that little accident we had in the duct affected the rest of the base, do you? I mean, what if Aurora and Future Libby got caught up in that current?"

He tossed his hair. "I wouldn't worry about it. I'm sure they were out of the duct by the time it happened."

"If you say so…"

"At any rate, we don't have time to be worrying about the others. We have our own safety to consider. They'll take care of themselves. Now, if you'll just give me a few more minutes, I'll finish hacking and…"

"Grrr, bark! Mmbark!"

Jimmy snapped around. "What? What do you mean there's no wireless access here? It worked fine inside the tube!"

"Eow, eow… Grr rrrk ar ark! Bark!"

"Why on Earth would he do that? Are you sure?"

"Mmmbark! Bark bark!"

Cindy forced her way in between the two. "This may come as a shock to you, Neutron," she said, "_but I don't speak DOG_. Would you mind cluing us in? We're your teammates too, remember."

"Sorry, sorry. I was just caught a bit off guard." He turned to address his friends, spreading his palms in an explanatory gesture. "According to Goddard's internal computer, this entire branch of the Sector is a dead zone. There's no sensors, no surveillance, no wireless network. In other words, no chance of being detected – but also no chance of completing the hacking I started in the duct."

"A _dead zone?" _repeated Cindy."Doesn't that seem a bit, I don't know, suspicious to you?"

"Of COURSE it's suspicious! Why would DJ keep an entire Sector running, complete with life support and complex architecture, if it were empty? It makes no sense! Maybe this really _was_ a project that was abandoned…or maybe…no, I don't think that's it… hey boy, do me a favor and pull up the schematics that you downloaded for Sector 2!"

Goddard projected a 2-D floor plan into the air, and Jimmy stepped forward to study it. The schematic showed a meandering, labyrinth-like collection of rooms – which, unfortunately, blocked the way to the center of the base.

"Hmm, that IS odd," he muttered, stroking his chin. "Sector 2 is like one big maze…the rooms don't seem to be laid out in any kind of logical order, and that makes me nervous. Unfortunately, I need to get to an area with wireless access or a computer interface…which means, one way or another, we're going to have to get through this."

Libby gestured at the labyrinthine floor plan. "But how are we gonna find our way through _that?"_

Jimmy smiled smugly. "The answer to that, as always, is science. Goddard, plot the most efficient course through the maze!" His pet obeyed, and a yellow line coiled out from their current position on the map and traced its way through the rooms, emerging at last on the other side. "See? All we have to do is follow Goddard's digital map, and we won't get lost."

Cindy traced the route with her finger. "OK, so according to this, we should start by leaving this room, and then go down a long hallway until we find the entrance to the maze. Does that sound about right?"

"You got it. Now let's get a move on…the clock is ticking!"

...

Rewind ten minutes, rotate 160 degrees, and shift over to Aurora and Future Libby, who were traversing the duct leading into Sector 5. Aurora led the way, periodically glancing over her shoulder to check on her timidly advancing companion.

"You OK?"

Future Libby glanced around anxiously. "Ya, I'm fine…I'm just a bit…creeped out by dark, cramped places. Especially when those places are hundreds of feet underwater."

Aurora uncurled her fingers, and a faint green light illuminated her palm. "Better?"

Future Libby nodded, swimming in closer to her friend. They continued to advance, and Future Libby hugged tight to the wall, pulling herself along incrementally. Up ahead, the duct split into two passages – one was open, tapering into darkness; the other was partitioned off by a finely meshed grate. Future Libby stopped to examine it.

"What's with the filter grate?"

Aurora paddled around to face the other woman. "Um…I'm pretty sure that passage leads to the desalinization plant. Seawater is taken in through the filter, drained into pools, and then converted into fresh water using reverse osmosis. It's really not that important to our mission. Now let's get a move on…"

Future Libby hung back, frowning in thought. Aurora took a deep breath to keep her impatience under control. "What is it?"

"This looks like an easier place to get out. Are we gonna try goin' through the filter?"

"It probably would be," admitted Aurora, "but no, we're not. I've never been inside the desalinization plant, and I haven't seen the layout schematics. There are enough variables to consider without having to find our way through an uncharted section. After all, our mission is to _find_ the Dictator, not get lost in his base."

As her words died away, a distant rumbling sound flooded the duct. Aurora twirled toward it, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What the…"

The walls of the tube began to tremble, and a split second later, a torrent of white, bubbling water rocketed toward them. Aurora's eyes shot wide open in surprise, but her cry of warning was silenced as the jet of high-pressure water slammed into her. With her last vestiges of coordination, she reached blindly for Future Libby's hand. She caught hold of one of Libby's golden bracelets, but amid the violent confusion, it slipped from her wrist. In the blink of an eye, the two women were hurled apart. Future Libby collided with the grate, which collapsed from the impact, folding around her like a piece of origami as both disappeared down the filter tube in a rush of churning bubbles.

"Lib-mm!"

The swirling waters pushed Aurora into the opposite passage. She barely had time to panic before she slammed back-first into the rear wall of the duct. She cracked her head against the metal, and reality slowed to a crawl. She could hear each and every bone in her body as they strained against the roaring water, and she wondered faintly if she was going to die. Three heartbeats later, her vision faded to white, and she felt herself slipping into peaceful nothingness. Fighting unconsciousness with every fiber of her being, she summoned up one last-ditch burst of energy. Green light trickled down her body, and as her eyelids drooped slowly closed, she began to melt through the metal wall behind her. The water pressure completed the task for her – the duct burst, and Aurora spilled into the room beyond it, borne along by countless gallons of water. The tidal wave calmed at last, depositing her on the floor of an empty corridor. Numb and dazed, Aurora lay on the ground, staring up unblinkingly at the ceiling lights until they finally went dark.

...

Coughing and sputtering, Future Libby pulled herself out of a small concrete pool. She staggered for a few steps, then fell to her knees. As soon as she could breathe again, she hauled herself up, blinking droplets of water from her eyelashes.

"Aurora?" she called out. "Aurora, where are you? I…ack..."

She doubled over in another coughing fit. Teeth-chattering loudly, she straightened again, shivering from the cold and the shock of the previous sixty seconds. Her mind raced as she tried to make sense of what had happened. What had hit them? Where was Aurora? She shook her head to clear her spinning thoughts, then turned to survey her surroundings.

The desalinization plant consisted of several interconnecting pools, separated from one another by semi-permeable membranes. Water gushed into the largest from the source tube, and the broken filter grate tumbled in erratic circles within the small eddy formed at their juncture. The smell of chemicals lingered in the air; distant walls creaked from the all-pervading damp. Although the room was dimly lit, Aurora was clearly nowhere to be found. Future Libby coughed again, this time on the verge of tears.

"Aurora must've gotten swept into the other duct, which means she could be just about anywhere right now! Oh, what should I do? How could things've gone this wrong already?" After a few more wheezy breaths, she drummed her hands against her cheeks, forcing herself to regain her composure. "Keep it together, girl. Jimmy should have shut down the weapons and surveillance by now. You can get through the base if you're careful. Just follow your instincts, and you're bound to run into Aurora before long. If you're lucky, you might even find Sheen…" She broke off, unwilling to think any further ahead than the task at hand. "OK, First thing's first…gotta get out of this room."

She glanced around until she spotted a door on the wall behind her. She hurried toward it, her white sandals squeaking on the wet concrete. She turned the knob cautiously, and, opening the door a fraction of an inch, peered out into the hallway beyond. She held her breath, listening with all her senses for any signs of approaching danger. As soon as she was convinced that it was safe, she sidled out of the crack and flattened herself against the side of the doorway. Peering around the corner, she noticed a gun turret mounted on the wall at the far end of the hall. Biting her lower lip, Future Libby slipped a bracelet off her wrist and tossed it into range of the weapon. She plugged her ears, but nothing happened. It hit the ground with a tinkle, then rolled a few feet before tipping over. Satisfied, Future Libby stepped out of her hiding spot and dashed across the hall, scooping up the bracelet as she went.

"'Atta girl..." she muttered reassuringly. "Just gotta take this one at a time…"

She rounded the corner and repeated the process. Driven by fear and emboldened by her success, she quickened her pace. As she rounded the fourth corner, a faint echo reached her ears, and her heart skipped a beat. She whipped around, wet braids slapping against her neck. After a breathless moment, she crept on again, more cautiously this time. After rounding the fifth bend, she found herself at the head of a long, T-shaped corridor. Overcome by the sudden and overwhelming sensation that she was being watched, Future whirled around, quickly extending her hands in a defensive block.

"I-Is anyone there?"

Silence replied, and she swallowed audibly, slowly pivoting back in the direction she had been heading – only to find her path blocked. She covered her mouth to stifle a scream. At first glance, she didn't recognize him – his lean frame, pallid skin, and tired, wan face were a far cry from the chubby boy of her youth. Even his red hair, which hung in damp-looking curls over his forehead, seemed a shade duller than before. Only by process of elimination did she realize who he was.

"C…Carl?"

Future Carl gazed at her wordlessly, and the overhead light glinted off his glasses. Remembering how he had helped Aurora escape when she was Jimmy's prisoner, Future Libby dropped her guard and rushed forward with a smile.

"Carl! It's so good to…OOOh!"

She gasped in horror as two robotic aberrations jumped out from behind him. Like twisted relics of some bygone era, the robots possessed mismatched features from a variety of animals: covered in interlocking metal scales, they crept forward on all fours, their dexterous fingers and opposable thumbs tipped in razor sharp claws. Prehensile tails flicked through the air behind them, and white eyes glowed from within their powerful, fang-lined muzzles. The animatronic carnivores slunk forward, hissing and growling in menacing synthetic tones. Future Libby tripped backward a few steps, nearly losing her balance.

"What….what are _those?_"

Future Carl stopped their predatory advance with a motion of his hand, and the two creatures prowled back to his side. After a moment he spoke, his voice weak and one-dimensional. "Libby…is that really you?"

She laughed in relief, touching a hand to her chest. "Of _course_ it's really me! Is it really you? My gosh, you look so different…"

He turned and immediately began walking away. "You shouldn't have come here," he said over his shoulder. "It's dangerous. You should leave before you get hurt."

"Wait, don't go! I can't leave! I got separated from Aurora, an' now I have to find her!"

He slowed to a reluctant halt, and she forced a note of optimism into her words. "We came here to save you guys!"

He looked at the ground, fiddling with something strapped to his wrist. As he shuffled his feet indecisively, Future Libby could not help turning a wary eye to Carl's robotic guards, who stared back at her with alarmingly expressionless faces. She suppressed a shiver. "Really, Carl, those _things…"_

He looked up sharply. "What do you mean, 'those things'? What did you expect?"

"What did I expect? I don't know, I guess…regular robots. You know, like the ones you see in the movies. People robots, not horrid creepy crawlers."

She shuddered, and he shrugged, reaching down to pet the one nearest to him.

"They're not so bad once you get used to them. Sure, they mostly walk around on all fours, but that's because Jimmy says there's nothing inevitable about bipedalism. The only reason it works for humans is because our intelligence allows us to overcome the disadvantages. Animals, on the other hand, are efficient. They can run faster, hear better, smell better, see better, and sense better than any human being. It's easy to trip a two-legged robot, but you can't outrun or outmaneuver one built to move like a cheetah or a wolf. So why model robots after humans? It makes much more sense to use animals as a template. The robots can be programmed to be super intelligent, yet like the animals on which they are based, they lack human free thought or will. Animals never question their masters."

"That's just plain creepy, Carl. You sound like a robot yourself when you say that. Come on, ditch those freaky things and come with me! We have to find Sheen and…"

Future Carl lifted a palm to silence her, and she trailed off. "I can't help you, I'm sorry. It's already bad enough that we ran into each other. You should go."

"But…can't you at least give me some kind of hint? Point me in the right direction? You must know this base like the back of your hand…"

He looked painfully guilty for a moment, then at last sighed. He pointed down the corridor. "You should go that way."

Without hesitation, she turned and jogged off down the hallway, waving over her shoulder as she went. "Thank you, Carl! Don't worry, we'll fix everythin', you'll see!"

As she disappeared round the corner, the communicator on Future Carl's wrist pinged softly. He flipped open the interface, and an evenly-paced, well-spoken voice issued from the other end.

"Who was it?"

Future Carl hesitated a moment before answering. "Um, it was…Libby…"

There was a pause, and when the voice on the other line spoke again, the barest hint of surprise colored the words. "Libby? What is she doing here?" White noise filled the vacuum left by his silence. At last he continued. "Did you send her my way?"

"…Yes."

"Good. Carry on to the other two life signals. Leave Libby and Aurora to me. I'll radio you with further orders in a few minutes."

"Right..."

Future Carl stared off into space for a moment, then closed the panel on his wrist communicator. He turned and walked the opposite way down the hall, flanked by the two robotic nightmares. He kept his gaze glued to the ground.

"It was nice seeing you Libby," he said quietly. "Goodbye…"

* * *

Sorry again for the posting mix-up!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	37. Emotion Sickness

This chapter makes me LOL. ~o:-) Ooooh, the melodrama...

I apologize in advance for what is sure to be a rollercoaster-like installment. I just couldn't resist. The chapter after this is awesome, though, so look forward to that.

* * *

**Chapter 37: Emotion Sickness**

Aurora jerked upright with a strangled cry. Gasping for breath, she fell back onto her elbows, rib cage heaving as she forced air into her lungs.

"I'm…I'm alive…"

The shock of waking dissipated, and Aurora's senses returned. Groaning, she rolled onto her side. Every inch of her body throbbed in pain. Lying motionless in the puddle left behind by the receded waters, she allowed herself a moment of misery.

"Ughhh…"

Gathering together all her willpower, she planted her hands on either side of her body and carefully lifted herself up. Her muscles trembled in protest as she drew her knees underneath her. Hunched forward, she rested her face in one hand and waited for the waves of dizziness to pass. At last her mind cleared and, taking a deep breath, she checked herself for injuries. She touched the back of her head with a grimace, then peered down at her fingers.

"No blood…that's a good sign…" She rotated her wrists one at a time, then shifted her weight forward onto her knees and rotated her ankles, scowling as she did so. "_Sss_ …jeez that hurts…"

Finally, she twisted her torso from side to side, checking each of her ribs for any signs of fracture. "No broken bones…guess that's a plus."

With a clean bill of health, she hauled herself up, wavering a little before regaining her balance. As the overwhelming pain and stiffness receded, she became conscious of a hundred needle-like pains in the back of her left arm. Frowning sharply, she lifted her elbow to get a closer look at her tricep. Shiny beads of blood dotted the light blue fabric of her suit, and she ran her fingertips across them in bewilderment.

"What the…?"

A glimmer of light reflected off something imbedded in her arm; still frowning, she plucked a shard of glass from one of the wounds. Suddenly conscious of their presence, she yanked out half a dozen more. She stared down at the blood-glazed fragments cupped in her palm, eyebrows furrowed as she attempted to deduce their origin.

"…Glass? How did I get glass in my ar…" All at once the answer poured over her in a waterfall of icy panic.

"_The antidote_!" she gasped.

Aurora fell to her knees and plunged her hands into the murky puddle, desperately hoping to be wrong. "Please be here, please be here…"

Her finger made contact with a rounded shape, and she hastily fished out the cap to the antidote – which was attached only to a few pieces of broken vial. There was a moment of suspended silence as she stared down at the remains in disbelief.

"It….broke…?"

She mouthed the words again, but no sound came out. The explanation played out in her mind – the antidote must have been crushed when she collided with the duct wall. Aurora curled forward, physically sickened, as the full meaning of this revelation hit home. No antidote. No antidote. No antidote. She repeated this appalling conclusion over and over while dread and anger engulfed her. It was so unfair. So monstrously, cruelly, mercilessly unfair. She had sacrificed everything for this plan – and there it lay, in little shattered fragments in her right palm. She purposely clenched her fist around the serrated shards, scowling in twisted satisfaction as they sliced through her flesh. She watched the crimson rivulets spill down her skin and drip into the water. Closing her eyes and inhaling deeply, she let her emotions bleed out through her hand.

The pain cleared her thoughts, and she rose quietly, fingers slippery with blood. She lifted her hand to her face and peered down at her new crisscrossing wounds, then turned to face the length of the hallway, every line of her body set in bitter determination.

"So. This is the way it has to be after all."

She set out across the corridor, her grim figure refracted in all directions by the water at her feet, like stained glass in motion.

"Neutron, you better hope the kids get to you first," she said in a low voice, "because if they don't, nothing in all of creation will be able to save you."

She walked on, ponytail swaying from side to side with each methodical step. Numb from head to toe, she picked up her pace, every footfall bringing her closer to the inevitable confrontation.

….

Meanwhile, back in Sector 2, Jimmy was turning the door-handle that lead into the maze. "Here we go…"

The door creaked open to a warehouse-like room with a tiny exit at the far end. The floor was shiny and clean, and except for a single light fixture hanging from the ceiling, the space was empty.

Cindy looked around in awe. "Wow. That's a _big_ room."

Jimmy motioned for his friends to follow. "Let's get a move on. But keep a sharp eye out, just in case…I think it goes without saying, but you can't be too careful in a place like this."

They remained huddled together as they picked their way across the linoleum, barely daring to breathe for fear of missing a distant sound. As they reached the halfway point between the room's entrance and exit, Carl suddenly piped up.

"Jimmy, I feel kinda funny…"

The boy genius stopped mid-stride. "Funny? What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I guess I feel…_happy_."

They all stopped in their tracks, and Cindy considered for a moment. "Ya, now that you mention it, so do I. Like…_unreasonably_ happy."

"You know what?" giggled Libby, after a pause. "Me too! Isn't that weird?

The girls made eye-contact, and Cindy burst out laughing. "Weird? It's HILARIOUS!"

Libby covered her mouth to contain the laughter, and Sheen and Carl burst out into hysterics a second later. Jimmy felt his sides shake involuntarily, and laughter bubbled up inside him of its own free will. He doubled over, barely able to contain himself.

"What…hahahaha…is…so… heeehhahahahahaHAHAH FUNNY?"

"I…I don't…haahaHA! I don't…huhuhaha I don't know!" gasped Cindy between the fits. "I don't get it! Why are we…hee hee…why are we laughing?"

"Not a clue," said Libby, "but…hahahaha…I….haaaahhha! I can't STOP!"

"N…Neither can I! Ha! heehahahuhuhHAHAHAHAHA!" Jimmy gasped for air and leaned forward, steadying himself against his knees. Laughter poured out of his mouth like vomit, and he curled forward, holding his aching sides. "Hahaha! Ha! HAHA! What…what is going on?"

Cindy's lips were pursed in a barely restrained smile. "Hm. Hmmhehehehaha! It's like I suddenly can't control myself. Hee hee. Everything is just so…brilliant!"

The kids burst out into another giggle fit at these words.

Cindy breathed out. "I don't get it. Hm. Hmehehe. I don't remember feeling this way a few minutes ago."

"Hmhehe. Hahaha. Ahem. Me neither. Maybe…hehehahaha! HAHA! Errrg. It could be due to residual stress, or perhaps there's some kind of radiation or chemical in this Sector that causes artificial laughter. Or…hehehahahaaaa!"

"He said "artificial"!" giggled Carl.

"ARTIFICIAL?" belted out Sheen. "BAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Laughter once again swept the group, and Jimmy shook his head violently to break the spell. "We should get out of this room. Regardless of what's going on, we need to keep moving. Follow my lead."

They approached the exit, giggling, staggering, and swatting each other playfully. Jimmy carefully turned the knob, and the kids stepped through the frame and into the next room. The hinges squeaked eerily as the door swung open. A bluish hue seemed to hang in the air, and the floor radiated a bone-numbing chill. There were three identical exits at the other end, and Jimmy pulled up the map.

"Hmm, let's see, which one?"

Like a scene out of a horror movie, the door behind them suddenly slammed shut. Their pupils dilated in unison, and they stopped dead, crushed by an inexplicable internal weight.

"I can't do this anymore," said Carl flatly. "I give up."

His eyes rolled up into his head, and he collapsed right where he stood. He lay on the ground as if dead, eyes glassy and unresponsive. Sheen took one look at him, then wheeled around and walked into a corner on the far side of the room. Digging his fingernails into the surface, he bashed his own head against the wall. Knocked senseless, he slid down onto the floor.

"Carl!" gasped Cindy. "Sheen! What are you _doing_?"

Frowning, Libby reached up and brushed her fingers across her cheek. Gingerly pulling her hand back, she stared down at tear-stained fingertips. "What…what IS this? This horrible feelin'? Why…why am I …?"

All at once, Cindy was short of breath. Her palms grew sweaty and her hands trembled; her grasp on reality felt tenuous at best. Fearing for her sanity, she looked to the others. "Guys, what's going on!"

"No…point…in anything…" murmured Carl weakly.

Cindy whirled around, panicked. "What are you _talking_ about? We have to get out of here! Neutron, do something!"

"No…he's right, Cindy. I can see it all so clearly now. We never stood a chance against the Dictator. How could I have been so stupid? I'm so stupid, so stupid…"

He sunk to his knees, covering his eyes and muttering incoherently. Goddard curled up next to his master with a whimper.

"Neutron, what's going on? What's the matter with all of you?"

Carl's voice turned nauseating somersaults through the air. "It's life. It's all too much to handle. I wish I were dead."

"Alive? Dead? What does it matter?" muttered Jimmy distantly. "We never stood a chance. It's all so hopeless. We're going to die, and it doesn't even matter. There's no design or purpose to this life. Just blind, pitiless indifference…"

Libby choked on her tears. "Don't say that!" She sobbed and, hiding her face, ran away from the rest of the group.

"Libby, stop!" called Cindy. "Where are you going? I…What am I…what am I doing?" She stumbled backward as fear tightened around her like a straight-jacket. "Neutron, open the door!"

"I can't!"

Cindy dug her nails into her scalp, struggling desperately to keep her focus. She bit out the words with as much calmness as she could muster. "Listen to me. Jimmy, which door do I need to open?"

"There's no…"

"WHICH DOOR?"

"I'm so dizzy…"

"TELL ME!"

"D-Door?"

She pointed. "Those doors! _Which one_?"

"…L-Left one…"

To Cindy, each step forward felt like a punch to the stomach. After a few footfalls, she slumped forward onto her knees, every inch of her body straining in protest as her mouth tried to form the words. "L…L…Left! Oh, God!"

She dove forward and grabbed hold of the handle, and it swung open. After a moment their minds cleared a tiny bit, and Cindy was able to stand again.

Libby rubbed her eyes. "Wha…what just happened?"

"Everyone into the next room! Now!" commanded Cindy.

Libby and Carl headed for the exit, and Cindy grabbed Sheen and dragged him along behind her. The five of them crashed through the doorway and tumbled into the next room, where Jimmy slammed the door shut behind him. This room was larger than the previous, and at first glance a red hue seemed to permeate the air. It quickly vanished as flecks of light glinted off of the twisted steel weapons hanging on the wall.

Jimmy gasped for breath. "That was…horrifying!"

"Man, I've never felt so depressed in my life!" rasped Sheen.

"I want my Mommy!" Carl sniffled. "And some Prozac!"

"What…what just happened to us? What on EARTH is goin' on? Did the _room_ do that to us?"

Jimmy straightened. "I don't know Libby…it does seem like our behavior was being controlled just now. But I have no idea how."

"Who cares _how_?" said Cindy. "All I know is, we have to get out of here before…"

Carl retreated a few steps. "Uh-oh... I think I'm starting to feel something again!"

"What?" urged Libby. "What do you feel?"

Jimmy's expression changed, and his angry shout rang out across the room. "Who does he think we are, anyway? Did he lead us here just to toy with us?"

He slammed his fist against the wall, and the metal pieces hanging there tinkled alluringly. Cindy's head snapped toward him, and she advanced, eyes aglitter.

"This is all _your_ fault, you hear? All of it! The whole thing!"

"How is it _my_ fault?" he asked, escalating at an unnaturally high pace. "You're the one who got us into this mess, CINDY!"

"Not the way I remember it! Your stupid triangle pulled us here, remember?"

"But YOU sprayed the megalomanium in his eyes, you jealous, conniving, cold-hearted twit!"

"WHAT? I'll bash in your freakish skull!"

Libby forced her way between them. "Guys, we need to get out of here! This place is messin' with your heads!"

Jimmy shook off his confusion. "W-What am I saying? This room…it must amplify rage somehow. We need to get to the exit before…"

Cindy barreled into him, and they both rammed into the wall.

"I hate you!" she shouted. "I've hated you every day and I'll hate you for the rest of my life! I hate everything about you! Your stupid hair, your stupid inventions, your stupid atom symbol, your stupid blue eyes!"

"Cindy, you idiot, why did you have to open the left door? Now look at what you've done! You picked the anger room for God's sake!"

"You're the one who told me to go left, remember? You and your stupid hunk-of-junk dog!"

Goddard let loose a low, guttural growl.

"Guys…" cautioned Libby.

"Shut up!" hollered Cindy and Jimmy in unison.

Carl spun around to face her. "Ya Libby, shut up!"

Libby turned red. "What are _you_ talkin' about? You're the one who never shuts up, Carl! You and Sheen both. Always yackin' away about NOTHIN' AT ALL! It's so annoying!"

"Oh, so is that how you feel?" yelled Sheen. "Well maybe we should just stop being friends then!"

"Ya!"

"_Ya!" _echoed Carl.

Sheen scowled at the redhead. "What are you agreeing with me for? You're not my friend either! Wimpy four eyes! Fatty-fatty, two-by-four! Llama loving geek!"

"Sheen, how could you say somethin' like that to Carl? You're such a jerk! A big, dumb, tone-deaf jerk who's obsessed with a ridiculous cartoon!"

"At least I don't need makeup to feel good about myself!"

A sudden crash distracted them from their spat. Cindy shoved Jimmy against the wall, and a sharpened metal pike fell from its hook and clattered to the floor. They both stared at it fixedly for a moment, then Jimmy dove after the fallen weapon. He swung it around just in time for it to clang off of the deadly-looking blade that seemed to have leaped of its own accord into Cindy's hand.

Jimmy rose slowly. "So it's come to this, has it?"

"I'll cut you to shreds!" she snarled.

"Not if I get you first!"

He sliced his weapon down, and sparks flew off the hilt of Cindy's blade. Before they could inflict any serious damage, however, Libby, Sheen and Carl dove in and restrained them.

"Let me go!" struggled Cindy. "He had it coming!"

"Let me at her!"

"Get them to the door!" shouted Libby. "Now!"

Sheen tightened his grip on his captive. "Which door? There're two!"

"Uh…left one!"

Sheen glared. "Are you telling me what to do?"

"No!"

Sheen and Carl dragged a squirming Jimmy to the left door and threw him through it, exchanging insults the whole way. Cindy took advantage of Libby's momentary inattention and rolled forward, sending Libby slamming into the floor. She stood up and pointed the tip of her weapon at her friend.

"Don't try an' stop me!"

Libby struggled to force air back into her lungs. "Fine, I won't! He's all yours!"

Cindy dashed through the opening, and Libby followed. As soon as the door banged shut behind her, Jimmy and Cindy looked at each other in horror and simultaneously dropped their weapons.

"What…What was I _doing_?"

"I can't believe it! I was actually gonna…"

They stared at each other in a state of shock as the others fought to get their breath back.

"This is bad." Libby gnawed on her fingernails. "This is really, really bad."

"Sheen, do you really think I'm a fatty, fatty, two-by-four?"

"Well you _are_ a bit on the chunky side, but I didn't mean what I said."

"None of us did," said Libby firmly. "It wasn't really _us._ Jimmy, do ya think you can figure out why this is happenin' before whatever weirdness this is starts to take over again?"

Jimmy stood up taller. "I think I understand now. This is the reason we didn't see any surveillance or weapons earlier. This whole Sector IS a weapon. We must be in some sort of a sensory maze…a labyrinth constructed of a series of interconnected rooms, each designed to bring out a particular state of mind. I'm not sure how or why, but my future self must have created a system to influence the way people act… maybe with chemicals or artificial brain waves."

"Why would he do that?"

"Well, why not? I mean, think about it. It's a fantastic security measure."

Libby looked puzzled. "Whaddya mean?"

"This maze destroys people from the inside out. We'd be done for if we were traveling alone." The others stared at him blankly, so he elaborated further. "Don't you see? If it weren't for Cindy in that depression room, none of us would have been able to walk out of there. Then, in the anger room, the three of you stopped what would have otherwise turned into a deadly altercation."

Blushing furiously, Cindy kicked her weapon further out of reach. Once it was out of sight, her face cleared. "I think I get it. So the only way we can make it through the maze is if _at least one of us_ is able to open the next door and force the others through."

"Right."

There was a long moment of silence.

"This is just way too weird," shuddered Libby. "This whole maze thing…it's so surreal. Are you sure we're not in some sort of an illusion, like the time the Brains hypnotized us into thinking we were back in Retroville?" She wiggled her fingers in a cheesy imitation. "Ya know...eat and forget...eat and forget..."

Jimmy shook his head. "I don't think so, Libby. That kind of mind control wouldn't work on Goddard. However, he's clearly being affected too, so I think something else is at work here."

"Isn't there anything you can do?" asked Cindy. "Put that freak brain of yours to work!"

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!"

"Well, think faster!"

"Hey, if you're so smart, why don't YOU come up with a solution, eh?"

Libby interceded before the argument could proceed any further "Guys, focus! If we stand around fightin', then we're just playin' right into his hand. We can get through this. We just need a strategy."

Jimmy forced himself to take a deep breath. "Libby's right. OK, so here's what we know. We need to get through this labyrinth to get to the main control room and meet up with Aurora. Each room affects us in a different way. Once we leave this room we only have to get through six more before we…"

"We can't leave this room!" shouted Carl. "This room is safe!"

"It protects us!" blurted Cindy.

There was a stunned silence as they all became aware of their own words.

"Well, I guess that answers my next question," remarked Jimmy dryly. "We know what this room does now. Still, this is good. We have time to plan."

He fell silent, and the ensuing quiet stretched out, increasing in discomfort with each passing moment. Sheen played with a hangnail on his thumb, and Carl scrutinized the tips of his fingers; Libby re-positioned her pink choker. Finally Jimmy opened his mouth to speak, and the others awaited his solution with anticipation.

"Guys…I've got nothing."

Cindy's gestures became animated with her annoyance. "…What do you mean, you've got nothing? Think harder!"

"It's not a matter of thinking harder, Cindy. I'm at a loss. I haven't the faintest idea how to get around this. In all honesty, I'm not really that adept when it comes to emotions. Sure, I messed around with pheromones a little when I created the Love Potion, but that's the most time I've ever spent analyzing the biochemical factors that create human feelings. This kind of technology is years ahead of anything I can even imagine developing."

"Well…then what should we do?" asked Libby helplessly.

"The only solution I can see is the obvious one – we go through the maze, taking each room one at a time, relying on our respective strengths to get us through in one piece."

"Oh sure, _now_ he becomes a team player," scoffed Cindy, before softening. "But...all things considered, we don't have much of a choice. How do we start?"

"We don't. We'll be staying in this room forever. Given that fact, I'd really appreciate a nice cross-breeze to keep us cool on hot days. Wouldn't you guys agree?"

"I guess…" said Carl, perplexed.

"In that case, Goddard, would you be so kind as to blow a hole in that wall over there? That should do the trick."

Goddard barked happily, and unleashed a laser blast on the far door. It collapsed into the next room, and the tension in the air broke, like a shrill musical note cut short.

"Yay," cheered Carl, "I knew you could outsmart the machine, Jimmy! Take that, you big…uh, room!"

Jimmy dusted off his hands, smugness plastered on his face at having been so devilishly clever.

"Don't congratulate yourself just yet, Neutron. We still have to get through six more rooms."

"Right." He struck out across the floor and stopped at the splintered threshold. "Starting now…"

* * *

Haha, I could do soooo many things with this emotion room concept. I can't wait until I do the "lust" room. It'll be the biggest batch of fanservice since Lady Sings the News. ;-P

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	38. Unnatural Selection

This chapter is dedicated to acosta perez jose ramiro who, as far as I know, has faithfully read and responded to each and every chapter of this fanfic. Thank you so much! :)

Get ready to meet some new characters everyone...hope you like!

Chappie Illustration (it'd probably be best if you didn't look at this until after you've read it) : fc01 . deviantart fs42/f/2009/098/3/d/Something_in_the_Shadows_by_Acaciathorn . j p g (remove all spaces, but not underscores)

* * *

**Chapter 38: Unnatural Selection**

Over in Sector 3, the security systems were still offline. Future Libby peered around a corner, her gaze darting this way and that before she ducked back into the shadows. Heart racing, she forced herself to shut her eyes and calm her thoughts. She craned her neck around the corner and scanned the area again. Future Libby twisted the ring on her finger several times, then took a shaky breath and snuck out of the darkened alcove. She crept past a row of iron doors and slowed as she passed the last one, frowning at an inexplicable urge to push it open and investigate. She glanced back at it over her shoulder as she rounded the next bend, and before she could shift her gaze forward again, she collided with something that seemed to have materialized out of nowhere. She staggered backward to catch her balance, only to find herself looking straight into the face of the very last person she had wanted to see – Dictator Jimmy.

"O..ooooh!" she gasped.

His features burned themselves into her memory. The first thing she noticed was his form-fitting, metallic blue space suit – darker than Aurora's, the lines of the suit coiled around his body like an alien skeleton. He was not particularly tall, maybe a few inches taller than Aurora, but he nevertheless seemed to exude a presence large enough to fill the entire room. His brown hair was arranged in a state of carefully ordered chaos, and his eyes – as blue and intense as cut sapphire – gazed out from the shadow cast by his bangs. Easily asserting his authority, he crossed his arms and lounged against the wall.

"Libby. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Future Libby tried to reply, but no words came out. She stared at him dumbly, mouth open.

"So tell me, Libby, what brings you here? Business? Pleasure?" His voice was pleasant, his tone beguiling, and a smile played at the corner of his lips, as if he found her faintly amusing somehow. "What's the matter? Not going to answer?"

When Future Libby again failed to respond, he plunged forward after her. She hopped backward to assume a defensive stance, but before she could counter his movement, his hand locked around her wrist. He twirled her round and pulled her against him, wrenching her arm behind her back and clamping it down tight. He bent over her shoulder and whispered right into her ear, his words quick and insistent.

"Aurora brought you here, didn't she, Libby? Didn't she?"

She struggled to pull her body away from his. He increased the pressure on her arm, and she yelped in pain.

"Aooow! Let me go! Auroraaaa!"

"Why are you shouting? She can't save you."

Future Libby's eyes flashed angrily, and she twisted and thrashed, sputtering incoherently. "She WILL save me! You'll see! She'll save all of us, you…you…she's goin' to _beat _you!"

He chuckled. "I see your anger doesn't express itself very articulately…"

"You creep! Don't patronize me! Let go an' fight me like a man!"

His smile faded, and he shoved her forward, still holding her wrist. She stumbled, and he swung her back toward the wall, rotating them around their mutual center of gravity. She smacked face-first into the hard surface, and he yanked her arms back and pinned her body to the wall.

"You want to fight me? Then you'd better be prepared for what happens if you lose. I'd be happy to give you a preview…shall I tell you about all the things I did to Aurora the last time she was here?"

Future Libby wriggled defiantly. "She's stronger than you!"

"Perhaps," he said in a low voice. "But are _you_ stronger than me?"

A lump formed in her throat. He leaned in closer, and she strained against his hold. She felt the weight of his body against her spine as he pulled off her gold betrothal ring. He examined it thoughtfully, then, a moment later, his blue fire consumed it.

"My ring!"

In response, he yanked her wrists together, as if to handcuff her. Instead of the cold bite of metal, she felt the warmth of his hands on hers – then the screaming, gnawing pain of flame against skin. She cried out as the fire coiled round her hands and scorched through her silk dress, marring sections of her skin with hideously painful burns. Future Libby's legs buckled under her, and he let her tumble to the floor. His eyes were cold and his voice was deadly serious as he looked down on her.

"Don't even pretend for a _second_ that you're equal to Aurora. You're _nothing_ compared to her. Look at yourself…marching into battle wearing that get-up. Have you no sense of reality at all?"

He sneered contemptuously. She merely stared down at her charred palms, too stunned to respond.

"But that's how you've always been, isn't it? Spoiled and materialistic, only caring about appearances. Deep down, you're selfish, and you know it. First you made Sheen take the fall for you, and now you're going to do the same to your best friend." At the mention of Sheen's name, she looked up, and he continued his verbal barrage. "You're out of your league, Libby. I have no idea why Aurora brought you here, but whatever she was planning, it's already gone awry. Somehow, you two must have gotten separated by accident. And now, you're completely helpless..."

Future Libby's mouth went dry, and he lashed out with another blaze of fire, singeing her legs. She cradled her limbs close to her body as she waited for the burning sting to pass.

"How do you think Aurora's feeling right now?" he went on. "I'll tell you how she's feeling, Libby. Your disappearance will leave her internally distraught. Even if she tells herself otherwise, she'll unconsciously assume the worse. And it'll eat her up inside. She'll come looking for me, and when she faces me one-on-one, you know what will be filling her mind? Thoughts of _you_. She'll be worried about you. Distracted. She won't be on top of her game – and I'll take full advantage of that."

Future Libby realized with a lurch of despair that his statement was true.

"In fact, Aurora's _already_ off her game. She thinks she's one step ahead of me, but she's wrong. I know her better than that. You see, she's a bit too clever for her own good. Nav and April are doing a phenomenal amount of damage over in Sector 4 – it's obvious that they're meant to be a diversion. Aurora intended me to arrive at this conclusion, no doubt in the hopes that I would ignore them and go after her instead. This means that they are actually the weakest link in the plan."

Future Libby's eyes widened ever so slightly, surprised by the accuracy of his postulation. She immediately realized her mistake and forced a neutral expression, but her subtle facial movement did not go unnoticed by her captor.

"Ah. I can tell from your reaction that I have correctly interpreted the situation. Therefore, my next course of action is clear. After I have dealt with you, I will proceed directly to Sector 4 and kill both intruders. If Aurora wants to bring her friends into harm's way, she will pay the price."

Future Libby could scarcely conceal her horror, and he smiled in satisfaction.

"Thank you, Libby. You've been very helpful, and you didn't even have to say anything at all. Just by being here, you've murdered your friends, one by one."

Future Libby bit her lip hard, trying with all her might not to burst into tears.

"Now, now, do not worry my dear," he said with false sympathy. "I'm not going to kill _you_. I'm saving you so that Aurora can watch me melt your pretty face off. Plus, if things go wrong later, I may need your life as a bargaining chip. Which leads me to the next item of business…I must dispose of you for the time being. I don't want any interruptions."

He jerked her from the ground, twisted her round, and pushed her forward, guiding her down the preceding corridor. She winced with each step, her raw skin still throbbing. The first of the metallic doors automatically swung open upon his approach, and he forced her inside. It shut behind them. DJ's hand grew heavy on her arm and the small of her back as they pressed onward into the deepening shadow.

"W…Where are we goin'?"

"You'll see."

A cold sweat broke out over Future Libby's brow, and her heartbeat quickened. They descended stairs of some sort, and the light from the entrance began to diminish as they headed deeper underground. The air grew increasingly oppressive, and in her imagination the world above began to fade away, leaving only stifling darkness and the consciousness of her own pain. With each step forward she found it more and more difficult to breathe. Down in the endless corridor, the blackness possessed thickness and texture. Desperate to hear a noise, to make sure she was still alive, she found herself repeating her question in a small voice.

"Where are you takin' me?"

When he didn't answer, the fear waiting on the periphery of her senses rose to full-blown panic, and she opened her mouth to scream. As if he had anticipated her, his hand clamped down over her mouth and muffled the sound. She struggled, twisting and thrashing, but her hands remained locked behind her back. She half expected a reprimand, but instead he stopped, and she could feel his smile behind her.

"Almost there…"

He drove her on, and the next part of the journey passed by in a blur of indeterminate duration. Dictator Jimmy unlocked a metal door of some kind, and the hinges creaked as it swung open. He pushed her through it and onto her knees, then slammed the door shut behind her. The cell swallowed her.

Future Libby felt as though she was drowning. Up and down, back and front, and left and right lost their meaning as her sense of space expanded into the nothingness all around. Clinging to the only solid reality left to her, she flattened herself against the floor. She tried to focus on steadying her breathing, but a second later, every hair on her body stood on end. Somewhere in the darkness, _something_ moved. The noise that came out of the void assailed her senses like a bolt of lightning: the bone-chilling sound of nails clicking against the stone tiles of the floor.

"H-Hello?"

Her voice came out as nothing more than a barely audible squeak, and the clicking sounds drew nearer. Terror wrapped its vice-like fingers around her windpipe, and she froze, daring not even to move her eyes. Cold sweat trickled down her forehead and neck, and strange colors seemed to swim and blur together in her mind's eye. From somewhere across the room, a voice spoke. It had a terrifying layered quality – the top half sounded human, but underneath the syllables lurked the ancient, guttural tones of a predator.

"_He brought food early today…"_

Future Libby tried to scream, but the sound caught in her throat. She backed away on all fours in blind terror, while the unknown presence advanced toward her. She extended her arms in desperation and at last managed to cry out a few strangled words:

"No! Don't hurt me!"

The creature's sharp intake of breath echoed in the damp cell. Future Libby sensed fear in the air, and after a moment she realized that it was not her own. She heard scraping noises as the room's other occupant backed away. She straightened, wiping loose strands of hair from her forehead. When the voice spoke again, it sounded vaguely familiar, despite its labored breathing.

"L…L…Libby?"

Recognition dawned on her brain, and a wave of nausea washed over her. Little white flecks swam around the edges of her vision, and a long moment passed before she was able to respond.

"Oh my God…_Sheen_?"

"Libby?"

Before she could process the oncoming tidal wave of emotions, a panel on the wall slid open. She blinked furiously, pain shooting through her head at the influx of light. DJ stared down at her through the rusted metal bars that barricaded the opening. Future Libby's gaze snapped over in Future Sheen's direction just in time to see him retreat into the shadows.

"Sheen?" she squinted. "Sheen?"

DJ's icy smile sent a shiver running up her spine. "Hidden, has he?" His eyes were aglow as he looked down at her. No human eyes could be that color; they seemed to radiate light at an impossible blue wavelength. His smile grew. "Look harder, Libby. Your vision will have adjusted by now."

With a sense of dread weighing upon her, she swiveled and peered into the gloom. At first, all she could make out was a dark patch silhouetted against the mottled, water-stained concrete wall. As her vision cleared, she covered her mouth to stifle a gasp. Future Sheen crouched on all fours in the corner. His clothes were tattered and half-rotted, and tube-like protrusions ran from nodes attached to his body to a decrepit machine in another corner. Steel cuffs glinted from his ankles and his wrists, and a rusted collar constricted his neck. Lines of unintelligible red symbols and numbers were tattooed down his arms, across his chest, and on his face. He quickly moved to hide his left arm, and she caught a glimpse of claws before gazing at last into his face. The numbers 21 12 were etched into his cheeks, but she hardly noticed the markings as their eyes met. Future Sheen's brown right eye stared back levelly, fear, surprise, hope, and wonder mingling in its depths. His left eye was the color of blood, the pupil nothing more than a slit – a maniacal cat's eye beneath a cruelly curved eyebrow.

"Sh…Sheen?"

"Libby, allow me to introduce you to Experiment 21-12…" said the Dictator.

"_What have you done to him!"_ She almost screamed the words.

"What do you mean, what have _I _done to him? _You're _the one responsible for this, Libby. Sure, he made his choice – but he did it for you. Everything that's happened to Sheen over the past decade happened because of you. Don't forget that." He paused to let this sink in. "But, since you're curious, I'd be happy to elaborate. 21-12 was one of my first test subjects. I conducted a degree of gene manipulation in the hopes of creating a sort of 'super soldier', with enhanced strength, intelligence, and sensory capabilities. Unfortunately, the experiment was a failure. The subject began to exhibit signs of mental instability and physical violence. The effort it took to control him outweighed his benefit, so I allocated him to this cell for further observation. I occasionally recycled him for additional miscellaneous experimentation when it was imprudent to waste a clean test subject – those numbers you see branded on his skin are a catalog of all the various procedures I have performed on him."

"You're a _monster_!"

"You don't know the meaning of the word, Libby," he replied. "The abomination you see before you is no longer the Sheen you once knew. All that's left is a twisted body and an inhuman mind – the final product of unnatural selection. He's a unique kind of monster, Libby, with the killer instincts of an animal and that special kind of cruelty that only humans can achieve. And I should perhaps point out that his ravenous appetite extends beyond the need for mere food…"

Tears poured down Future Libby's face. She pulled her knees under her and covered her ears, trying to shut him out. "No! No! I don't believe you! This isn't the way it's supposed to be!"

"Believe whatever you want. But in a moment I'll close this panel, and you will once again find yourself alone with him in the dark. If I were you, I would get down on my hands and knees and pray that he doesn't escape from those chains. Because if he breaks free, Libby – even I would not want to see the things he'd do to you."

With this final pronunciation, he slid the panel shut with a _clang_. Future Libby lunged after the receding light, but the darkness swallowed her before she could reach it. She hit the wall, and panic seized her. She flattened her back against the grimy surface and dug her manicured fingernails into the concrete. Icy tendrils of fear coiled outward from the center of her chest, and her heart beat so furiously that it echoed in her ears. Unable to slow her breathing, she crept along the wall in the direction she imagined to be opposite Future Sheen.

Dictator Jimmy's words played over and over again in her head as hot tears spilled down her cheeks. An inhuman monster, a cruel killer…at any second she expected to feel hands on her body, to feel his claws poised against her skin. …What would Sheen do to her? What final words would he utter? Or would he simply kill her without a sound?

"Libby?"

She slammed her eyes shut, the cruel irony of it all too much for her to bear. She felt a dim sense of injustice as she waited for him to make his move – that she should have waited ten years and come all those billions of miles, only for it end like this. The moment seemed to stretch on for an eternity. When nothing happened, she opened one lid tentatively.

"Listen to me, Libby," pleaded Future Sheen. "Ignore what he said – I may look different, but I'm still me. Well, mostly. We need to get out of this cell. But first, you need to get me out of these shackles."

Future Libby shook her head furiously, holding tight to her spot on the wall.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Please come here."

"It's not really you! I don't know what you are, but you're not the Sheen I remember!" The words came out in a choked sob. "I waited so long…and you're not him!"

"I'm sorry I'm not the guy you were expecting," he said, and she heard the hurt in his voice. "But I promise I won't do anything to hurt you. You _have _to get me out of these chains. It's the only way we're going to get out of here."

Future Libby swam in a haze of indecision. Dictator Jimmy's words danced mockingly through her memory, but she found herself steadied by Future Sheen's tone of voice and his uncharacteristically levelheaded words.

"How…How do I know you won't kill me?" she asked. "How can I believe it's you? The REAL you?"

"You're just gonna have to take a chance. Don't be scared, K?"

She hesitated a bit longer, until all at once Tuyen's words poured over her in a wave of brilliant clarity: _You will very soon recover something that you have lost, but when the time comes, you must not allow yourself to feel any fear. Only by remaining steadfast in the face of terror will be able to save the people you love._ In an instant Future Libby comprehended, and she pushed away from the wall, a new resolve coursing through her veins.

She wiped her eyes. "I understand. Where are you? I can't see a thing…"

"Follow the sound of my voice…"

She tottered forward, arms extended.

"This way," he guided. "There we go, a little bit further. A few more steps…"

Future Libby stopped in mid-stride, fingers grasping air. Something inside her whispered, _this is your last chance to back out._

"What's the matter?"

She clumsily sought an excuse. "Once we get outta here, won't he just come after us again?"

"Don't worry. I won't let him get you."

"I'm not worried 'bout me. Won't he do somethin' to you?"

There was a pause. "You don't understand, Libby," he said quietly. "Once I get out of this cell, _nothing_ will be able to stop me."

She felt a chill at these words and hung back.

"Libby?"

Biting her lip, she forced herself to cross the last few paces between them. Her fingers quaked as they searched for his form in the emptiness. Finally, she reached him. She felt the heat from his skin a moment before her fingertips made contact. Slowly, she settled her injured hands on his body – and she silently thanked the darkness for concealing the burning in her cheeks.

His words eased her back to her senses. "Those are my shoulders. Slide your hands down my arms until you find the cuffs on my wrists."

Pain forgotten, she obeyed in a combination of fear and exhilaration. Her heart skipped a beat as her hand trailed down his left forearm, where unnaturally hardened, raised veins branched across his skin. She quickly jerked her hand past the anomalous lines, and her knuckles clinked against the metal handcuff.

"Do you feel the latch there?" he asked. "It's a little hook-thing sticking out from the rest of the cuff. I think it's programmed so that Ican't open it, but I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to."

"I think I got it…"

She flipped the hook on his left cuff, and it popped open. As soon as his hand was free, several things happened very quickly. He wrenched the chains off his other arm, then backed up a step, straining against his bonds. The sound of snapping metal filled the air, and Future Libby covered her head as shards of steel and pieces of chain flew out into the corners of the room. Opening her eyes again, she felt a rush of air as he brushed past her. Before she could pinpoint his position again, the steel door came flying past her and crashed against the cell wall. Still in shock at the sheer speed of the breakout, she found herself hurtling forward, her wrist locked in Future Sheen's grasp. He dragged her through the doorway and into the darkened hallway at breakneck speed. Stumbling behind him, she didn't even have time to yell out in protest before a tiny patch of light appeared up ahead. With fevered swiftness, Future Sheen turned and scooped her up. He bounded up the stairs leading to the exit, clearing three at a time. Setting her down, Future Sheen tore the door clean off its hinges and hurled it violently into the hallway, where it slammed against the far wall and clattered to the floor, warped and distorted. Out of breath and in mild shock, Future Libby leaned against the doorframe to catch her breath. Future Sheen darted out into the corridor, running in circles.

"FREEEEEDOM! SWEET FREEDOM! WOOOOOOO!" He laughed wildly and turned a series of cartwheels. "I have so much ENERGY!"

He flipped backward, then suddenly turned and punched the wall, leaving a crater where his fist had impacted. Staring down at his clenched hand, his expression changed. He faced the wall squarely and, yelling obscenities, slammed his fists into it over and over again. Dust and chunks of rubble rained down from the site of his assault, and he punctuated the episode by slashing out with his razor sharp claws.

"I'm…_I'm finally out…" _He trembled, panting,

He bent forward, resting his hands on his knees as he steadied himself. At last he straightened, and his gaze traveled over to Future Libby, who was staring out at him from her spot inside the doorway. Her eyes widened as she got her first good look at him. At his full height he stood a good head taller than her, and his torn, ill-fitted clothing showcased his sinewy muscles. His eyes, alert and asymmetrical, bored into hers, and every angle of his face hinted at a feral, unpredictable nature. She noticed that each time he took a breath, his whole body moved, like a coiled animal ready to spring.

"Sorry you had to see that," he said. "You don't understand what it was like, to be locked in there…" He broke off, then forced a reassuring smile. "But I got it all out of my system, so we're cool now. See?"

He spun around once in an attempt to appear carefree, but the gesture only succeeded in drawing Future Libby's attention to his misshapen left forearm. It was covered in raised metallic veins, and his enlarged hand tapered into a set of curved, retractable claws. He noticed the direction of her gaze and quickly covered the area with his other arm, blushing in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry…I know how horrible I must look to you…"

"Actually, I think you look…good."

A smile crept across his face. "Really?"

"Ya…I mean, not what I expected, but…"

"But not butt-ugly?"

She laughed. "No, not butt-ugly."

There was another, drawn-out silence, this one longer than the first.

"You look…hot," he said.

Future Libby blinked. "Hot?"

"Ya, I mean…well, look at you! You're drop-dead-gorgeous!"

She planted a hand on one hip. "Sheen, I think you've been in prison too long…"

"No, no, I mean it! Seriously, look at you! That hair, that…err, figure…that dress…"

His sudden awkwardness left her feeling cool-headed and in control of herself for the first time since they reunited, and she smiled graciously. "Well, thank you for the compliments, but I don't think now's the time to be sittin' around flirting. What's the plan?"

"The plan?" he repeated, dazed. "Oh, right…the plan. I guess we find your friends and do whatever it was you came here to do."

"All right, but I don't think I should tell you any of the details here, since he can probably hear everything we're sayin'. Just get me to the main control room…I think that's where Aurora was headin'. We got separated, and I think it'd be best if…"

"Aurora?" interrupted Sheen.

"Oh yeah, that's what Cindy's callin' herself nowadays."

"Cindy? So you did meet up with her on Earth after I sent you back?"

"Um…in a roundabout sort of way. I…Ouch! Ahh…" Acutely aware of her burn wounds once again, Future Libby glanced down at her hands to find them dirty and rapidly blistering. "Ow… oh no…"

"What's the matter?"

"Ow… He ruined my pretty hands…"

He crossed the distance between them, and Future Libby displayed her injuries for him. He touched her fingers gently, his eyebrows drawn together in concern.

"That looks pretty bad. Here, let me…"

He pulled off what was left of his orange shirt and, after ripping into sections, began bandaging the wounds.

"Thanks…"

Still holding her hands in his, he met her eyes, and she immediately became uneasy. Pulling away, she babbled out an addendum.

"Th-that's better. Thanks. Um, as to what we were sayin' before…I'll explain everythin' later, but right now we need to get a move on. Time is of the essence here."

"Then let's go."

* * *

:D IT'S FUTURE SHEEN AND JIMMY TIME **banana dance**

I also want to thank Readman, who gave me this gorgeous illustration of Aurora and Future Libby: fc05 . deviantart fs43/f/2009/118/d/e/Of_Babes_and_Badassery_by_Acaciathorn . j p g (remove spaces) or just go to my Deviantart account, Acaciathorn.

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	39. Sleight of Hand

Make sure to read this chapter carefully! It's short, but I wouldn't want you to misinterpret the event that happens by reading too quickly.

Let me know what you think!

Chapter illustration (remove spaces and substitute . for.): ac aciath orn . dev iant /art/Sleight-of-Hand-196639215

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**Chapter 39: Sleight of Hand**

Nav and April barreled down the hallway, nearly tripping over each other as they skittered around the corner. A second later, the entire corridor exploded. Nav tumbled forward and rolled just in time to avoid a saber of molten steel as it spun overhead. In the background, chunks of rubble rained down like hail, and wave of searing heat charged after them, a herald of the destruction wrought by their hands.

"Woohoohoo!" hooted Nav, looking back over his shoulder. "Would you get a load of the size of those flames!"

"Good thing you did not use the second charge! You would have brought the whole ocean down upon us!"

Laughing in tandem, they continued in their dead run, leaving the section behind them in shambles. They sprinted down three more corridors, and the sounds of mayhem receded. Nav re-loaded his gun in the midst of their mad dash, holding the spare cartridge between his teeth before clicking it into place.

"Jeez, Sector 4 seems to go on forever!" he said. "I mean, what the heck? We took out an armory and like three storage rooms – not to mention like forty of those freaky robot things. It never ends!"

Right on cue, three more of the robotic guardians leaped out in a surprise attack as they rounded the next bend. The two fronts collided in a shock of screeching metal and straining bone. The first bot launched itself onto Nav, knocking him to the floor. He landed with the creature on top of his chest, and his gun slid from his hand and spun away. Nav grabbed hold of the creature's muzzle moments before its teeth closed around his throat. Sweat dripped into his field of vision as he fought to pry the jaws apart.

April narrowly avoided her assailant, pivoting on one foot while simultaneously pulling a handgun from the holster on her hip. One eye squinted shut as she aimed and pulled the trigger. The ensuing bolt of energy took the second guardian straight in the face, blowing off its metal jaws and sending it twisting and writhing into the wall. She spun around and, crouching to steady her arm, shot the front legs off the third. Its forward momentum carried it toward her, and she lunged and grabbed it by the hindquarters. She yanked out a knife and began to slash at the creature, snarling like an animal herself as she tore off sections of synthetic flesh and cast them to the wayside.

A few feet away, cyborg and machine wrestled against one another with all their might. The muscles in Nav's living arm began to tremble from overexertion, and he called out to April.

"Babe," his voice cracked, "not to interrupt your fun, but a little help please…"

April looked up, and in one deft movement, threw her knife at Nav's attacker. The blade stuck in the robot's neck, cutting off power to the head. Nav threw it off him, grabbed his gun from the floor, and put a permanent end to their duel. He turned to face his fiancée, shaking beads of perspiration from his hair.

"Nice save, O Gorlock-of-mine-eye! And I know I've said this before, but you are just _so cute _when you're ruthlessly massacring the enemy!"

April wiped a blob of oil from her cheek and bared her fangs in bloodthirsty delight. "I will tear them all limb from limb!" she cried hoarsely. "I will snap open their ribcages and strangle them with their own innards!"

"And you're such a positive thinker, sweetie! I am one lucky guy..."

April retrieved her dagger while Nav tacked some C-4 onto the wall. He set the charge, then flipped April a thumbs-up.

"Ready to make some noise?"

She thrust her fist into the air. "Raze this sector to the ground!"

He flicked the switch that started the timer, and the two of them took off running again. As they swerved down the pipe, Nav plugged his ears, tee-heeing like a naughty little kid.

"Fire in the hole!"

Rolling explosions engulfed the section behind them. This blast was smaller than the previous one, and April and Nav slowed their pace to a suave, self-assured stroll as currents of roaring flame flooded the hallway.

"Ho yeah," said Nav, "we've got so much style. If only we had some rockin' background music to accompany us right now, we'd be the ultimate in badass."

"The explosions could be our music," she suggested.

"Good point. I _have_ always liked explosions. They make me feel all manly."

"Me too!" agreed April brightly.

"Uh…"

As they rounded the next corner, their dramatic flair vanished. There, at the other end of the corridor, their next opponent was waiting. Future Carl stood motionless, arms limp, his red hair waving gently in the wind generated by all the destruction. Two bots crouched on either side of him, languid yet menacing in their coiled poses. April reached for her machine gun, but Nav grabbed her wrist before she could fire.

"No, don't shoot! That pasty whelp is future chubby lumpkins…Aurora said he helped her escape, remember? He might be able to help us."

Still brandishing her weapon, April shouted ahead to Future Carl. "Carl! We will gladly spare your life if you join with us. Call off your robots and come forward!" When he didn't reply, April took a cautious step forward. "Carl! Did you not hear me? Please acknowledge!"

Future Carl didn't even look up as he wearily lifted a gun and pointed it in their direction. Nav backed up a step and raised his hands.

"Whoa there buddy, let's not do anything rash…"

"Do not be foolish, Carl," hissed April. "You do _not_ want to fight us. Lower your weapon, or we will not show mercy."

Future Carl didn't respond; he merely stood there, his weapon trained on his targets, eyes hidden from view. Nav shrugged and turned to April.

"Well, I was hoping it wouldn't come to this…would you like to kill him, or shall I?"

"Joint effort. I will take precision. Swap?"

"Right-o."

They tossed their respective weapons to each other, exchanging Nav's handgun for April's AK 47. They squared off with Future Carl across the passageway, guns cocked and at the ready.

April touched her finger to the trigger. "Last chance, Carl…you cannot beat us this way. I am a trained sharpshooter, and I will not hesitate. If you do not want to die, then either join with us or surrender."

"Seriously, bro…do yourself a favor and quit before her bullet gets up-close and personal with your internal organs. And if you won't do it for yourself, then do it for me, man. It really goes against my personal code of villainous conduct to kill a hapless Igor like you."

Future Carl's gun arm shook, but he held firmly to his position. At last he flipped his chin up and engaged with them. "Don't come any further this way. You'll just wind up dead. Please leave while you still have the chance."

April and Nav exchanged glances.

"Hate to burst your bubble, my feckless freckled friend," quipped Nav, "but we have our orders. We're going that way whether you like it or not."

"_Please_ go back. I'm asking you nicely. He will kill you for sure if you keep running around like this. You need to hide until it's all over. I can help you if you…"

April lurched forward, both fists clenched, her face twisted in anger. "Coward! Soldiers never hide! We must continue carrying out our mission at all costs. Whether we die or not is irrelevant!"

Future Carl retreated a step, frightened by her outburst. Seeing that his strategy was not working, he lowered the gun and reached out to Nav in entreaty.

"Please, you have to listen to me! I know you. I see you on the news from time to time – Nav, the 7th Samarkandi, right?"

Nav touched a finger to his lips, looking up at the ceiling in an exaggerated imitation of deep thought. "You watch the news? Hmm, I took you to be more of a "Barney" kinda guy…no? Blues Clues, maybe? Muppets? …Sesame Street? Come on, you gotta tell me 'warm' or 'cold' here, man…"

"Stop joking around! I'm serious! You're not a bad guy, and I don't want to see you get killed."

"Ha, tell that to the Galactic police," shot back Nav. "I've defrauded twenty-two multi-billion dollar corporations and stolen priceless goods from more pompous windbags than I can count. I'm a con artist who charms and manipulates unsuspecting victims before making off with everything they own. I've held up banks and stolen church supplies and led terrorist attacks on my own planet. I'm a felon, unscrupulous and thoughtless and rotten to the core."

Future Carl shook his head. "I don't believe you. You can pretend to be heartless, but you're not. Just because you sometimes do bad things, that doesn't make you a bad person, right? Like that time you robbed the bank on Tounk, or the time you hijacked the train station. Remember? You let all the women and children hostages go."

"You've been following my career?" frowned Nav.

"Not exactly…I, err, it's just…" Future Carl stuttered, embarrassed. "Well, if _you're_ still a good guy despite doing all those bad things, then I thought that maybe…maybe _I_…"

"How many times have you looked the other way while the Dictator murdered people?" asked Nav softly. "How many friends have you betrayed by your inaction?"

Future Carl slapped a hand to his chest. "I want to change. I really do! I want to do something good, even if I've done bad stuff before. I just…I just don't know where to start!"

Nav smiled, then shouldered the AK 47. "I've just decided that I like you, Carl. And to answer your question, the fact that you're sticking your neck out like this proves that you've _already_ started. I'd be honored to have you as one of my companions, if you're willing to take the risk."

"I didn't come here to join you," he said, turning away. "I can't. I can't do that to him either. Jimmy would…" he broke off. "I just don't want to see you guys die. You're not a bad person. You don't deserve that. So please…please go back."

"You want to know the truth?" sighed Nav. "To be honest, I'd love to turn back. I'm scared witless right now, but I volunteered for this mission and I'm going to see it through. Not to sound cliché, but that's kinda of what loyalty is, isn't it? Doing what you promised even when you're about to pee yourself because you're so afraid? Now I may be a lot of things, but I'm not somebody who scuttles away with my tail between my legs when the going gets rough. So thanks for the warning, but we really need to get moving."

Nav strode forward, and Future Carl jerked the gun toward them again, a bar of light gliding across his glasses.

"No!" he shouted desperately. "I won't let you go! Get out of here, or I'll…I'll shoot!"

Nav raised an amused eyebrow. "Oh, is that so? And here I thought you were trying to _prevent_ us from getting shot…"

"I don't – I mean, I don't know, I'll just injure you or something. I mean it, go back! I won't let you come any further!"

"Wrong," said April.

She squeezed the trigger, and her perfectly aimed shot knocked the gun out of Future Carl's grip – just in time for Dictator Jimmy to step around the corner and snatch the spinning weapon from midair. The onlookers could barely believe their eyes.

"How did…?"

April only hesitated for a second before she opened fire – but her shots bounced harmlessly off a force field of some kind, which seemed to be issuing from the high-tech watch on his wrist. DJ twirled the gun around his finger, taunting them from across the hall with his self-satisfied smirk.

"Thanks for delaying them, Carl," he said in a falsely thankful tone. "It would have been bothersome to track them down had they strayed any further."

"But I…"

Dictator Jimmy cocked the gun. "If you want to leave, Carl, I won't stop you. This will be over with quickly anyway."

Carl looked from one face to another, stricken like a deer in the headlights. Nav was the first to react – he smiled sadly at April, then lifted his shoulders in a resigned shrug.

"Well, looks like our number's finally up, babe. It was only a matter of time, really. I've had the Devil's luck for eight years running. It had to end somewhere."

Beneath this outward nonchalance, Nav's mind raced through every possible course of action. He analyzed the situation from every angle, and in a flash, his mind hatched a plan. He crossed his fingers and silently asked whoever might be listening for one last stroke of good fortune.

Nav shrugged again. "Well, you know what they say. When you're dealt a losing hand, there's only one thing you can do…"

"What's that?" prompted April.

He winked at her. "Cheat."

Nav yanked April's dagger from her belt, and, stepping between her and the line of fire, rammed the blade into her stomach. April's strangled grunt resounded through the confined space, and a river of thick liquid trickled down her legs and pooled on the floor. Future Carl covered his mouth, sickened by the sight of blood, and even DJ paused at this unexpected action. But only April saw the truth…that Nav had stabbed through his own mechanical hand, and that it was only purple coolant which leaked from the gash, mimicking blood as it dripped to the ground. April touched the rapidly spreading stain, then raised her gaze.

"You…?"

"I'm sorry, honey. I guess in the end, I'm just selfish after all."

"But…why?" her voice trembled. "I would have gladly..."

"It's better this way, April," he smiled, continuing the charade. "I can't stand the thought of you suffering the same kind of torture that Aurora endured. I don't want to leave you at the mercy of that madman. Die in peace, knowing that it was me who took your life, and not him."

He twisted the knife, snapping the synthetic ligaments in his hand. Nav's body obscured the true nature of his action; Dictator Jimmy saw only purple blood spurting from what he believed to be a serious wound. Nav ripped the dagger out in a flourish, splattering the walls with lustrous droplets. Hands clasped over her abdomen, April stared up at her fiancé, desperate for one more moment, one more word, one more touch. Brushing his fingers across her cheek, Nav leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"Goodbye, sweetheart."

Before she could stop him, he drew back and bashed the stock of the machine gun across her face. April fell to the floor, knocked unconscious, but otherwise unhurt. Her helmet rolled from her head and stopped just in front of Future Carl, who jumped back in horror. DJ's eyes traveled over April, who laid motionless, face-down in a glistening violet puddle. After surveying the scene without comment, he looked at last into Nav's determined face.

"It's been a long time since I've had the occasion to say this, but I'm impressed," said Dictator Jimmy. "Murdering the woman you love to save her from death at the hands of the enemy? That takes a lot of nerve. I was going to kill you without ceremony, but you clearly deserve better than that. Any last words?"

Nav swung around lazily to face his executioner. Flashing him a crooked grin, he spread his arms wide.

"Ya. Say hi to Aurora for me when she's kicking your ass."

Unable to watch, Future Carl turned and plunged blindly down the hall, running with all his might, running from the blood and the shame and the guilt. Plugging his ears, he prayed not to hear the gunshots, which rung out a moment later in a wordless testament to another senseless killing…

* * *

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	40. Hearts Storm

I'd like to apologize in advance for this chapter :D Bad romance fic writers, this is my salute to you -tips hat-

Chapter illustration (remove spaces and substitute . for.): acacia tho rn . dev iant /art/Proven-Guilty-155219962

* * *

**Chapter 40: Hearts Storm**

A few minutes later, security systems around the base came back to life. Power levels rose, scanners rebooted, and dormant patrol bots awakened. The life-signs detector came back online as the surveillance equipment drank of its electrical elixir. Dictator Jimmy's voice crackled over the newly re-activated the comm. link: one word uttered, then static.

"Aurora…"

The simple statement ping-ponged throughout Sectors 1-4, a world of meaning compressed into three syllables.

"I must congratulate you. Your plan to use April and Nav as a diversion was a success." He paused, allowing silence to intrude for a moment. "I went to investigate, and I must admit they caused quite a substantial amount of damage. However, the outcome of the encounter was, as you may have surmised, the inevitable one: both targets were successfully eliminated. Nav stabbed and knocked out April, and I shot him. These are not taunts, these are facts. I am merely giving you the information you need."

His words twisted and turned through the passages as they snaked toward their intended target. He paused again.

"If you'd care to avenge your fallen comrades, I'll be waiting for you in the control room. Let's settle this, once and for all."

He switched off the intercom. Elsewhere in the sprawling complex, across jumbles of identical passages, over countless tiled floors and past gun turrets and hidden traps and unlabeled rooms, Future Libby clapped a bandaged hand over her mouth.

"I can't…I won't believe it!" she gasped. "Not April an' Nav!"

Future Sheen watched her reaction without comment.

"How could he! He's…he must just be sayin' that to mess with Aurora's head! He must be lyin' again, just like he was about you…"

Sheen flinched almost imperceptibly, then looked away. She bent forward and peered around the corner, and he dared another glance at her – or, more specifically, at her backside. When she turned around again, he gazed nonchalantly into the air as if nothing was going on at all.

"Let's keep movin'…"

They proceeded in their cautious march, tense and alert. Future Sheen led, his restless fingers plucking the air.

Future Libby whispered to break the silence. "Sheen, I think…"

"Shh. Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

He lurched abruptly like a startled animal, and Future Libby jumped as well, more in reaction to his movement than to any perceived threat.

"That humming sound. The guns are coming back online." He pointed to the gun turret mounted above the doorway a few feet away. "You hear it? You hear…RUN!"

He grabbed her wrist and jerked her forward, and she cried out from the pain in her burned hand. They leaped through the doorway just in time for the gun to begin firing at the base of the exit – it missed them by a few inches. The violent, pinging ricochet still fresh in his ears, Future Sheen pulled one of Future Libby's gold bracelets from her wrist and hurled it at the gun turret across the hall. After winging to its target, it sliced right through the cord hooked up to the motion sensor. The weapon fizzled anticlimactically, then went silent.

She looked back and forth between the gun and Sheen, eyes strained in disbelief. "Was that…that's not even possible!" she gaped. "How did you even _do_ that?"

"Have you ever seen those guys on TV who cut stuff in half with playing cards? They just sort of wail them, and bam! Slice right through. Anyway, I remembered watching a show like that when I was a kid. Thought I'd give it a try."

"You…you…"

He grinned. "Heh heh, you like that? Wait to you see what else I can do!"

She stared up at the now harmless weapon, a wrinkle of disbelief still clinging to her features. "Well, maybe you got it this time, but what about the rest of the guns? I'm gonna run out of bracelets."

He laughed, then jogged across the hall. "I'll take this one!" he said, gesturing at the mounted gun.

He jumped up and grabbed the stock, then wrenched the whole thing down. Sparks and a few wires rained down along with it, and Future Libby winced.

"Will that thing work now that you yanked it out of the wall?"

"No idea! But it's a pretty solid hunk of metal. Worse comes to worst, I'll just chuck it at the next gun. Shall we?"

She followed somewhat reluctantly; casting glances over her shoulder. The next passageway had no weapon; neither did the passage after that. As they snuck forward, Future Libby fought a growing unease.

"Uh, Sheen?" She tiptoed in circles, shoulders drawn tight. "They always tell a girl to never ignore her instincts, and right now I feel like we're bein' watched…"

His hand tightened around his weapon. "I feel it too. I think it might be spyders."

"Spiders? How could spiders be watching us?" Fear crossed her face. "….You don't mean genetically engineered super-bugs or something!"

"No, not spiders. _Spy-ders_. With a y."

"Spy-ders? What are those?"

"Exactly what they sound like. Little surveillance bots that look like spiders. He made me fight them once. I hate them."

Something flashed in her peripheral vision, and she whipped around just in time to catch a glance of scuttling, needle-like legs as they vanished into a patch of shadows. She shuddered and moved a little closer to him. They came upon a small alcove just before a 3-way intersection of passageways, and Future Sheen motioned for Libby to hang back while he checked the area.

"OK, I think we're set. If we keep going at this pace, we should…" He turned back to check on her, and his expression changed in mid-sentence. Lunging forward, he dropped his gun. "LIBBY! Behind you!"

Future Libby cried out as a torrent of spyders streamed down from the ceiling and onto her body. She stumbled backward and crashed into a section of wall behind her as the shimmering metallic creatures engulfed her. Future Sheen cleared the distance between them in a single bound and slashed at Future Libby's attackers, sending them flying one by one. She threw off the rest herself with a screech of disgust.

As the last of the spyders retreated back along the sides of the corridor, the rhythmic sound of mechanical footsteps echoed from somewhere in an adjoining passage. He reacted quickly, pushing the shaking Future Libby into the alcove between the halls. He shielded her body with his own, his bare back exposed to whatever enemy might be approaching. He slid a hand over her mouth and leaned in close to whisper.

"Shh, not a sound…"

Future Libby nodded, eyes peeled wide with fear. They stood motionless, every muscle drawn tight. Future Sheen gazed over his shoulder, watching intently for the slightest movement. After what seemed like hours, the footsteps faded into the distance, and the corridor once again fell silent. Future Sheen removed his hand from her mouth, and Future Libby slumped forward in relief, burying her face against his chest. With adrenaline-fueled clarity, she felt the texture of his skin, sticky with sweat, and noticed the pattern of goose bumps that rose and fell with each breath. She quickly straightened.

"I think we need to find you a shirt…" she laughed nervously.

She looked up at him with an unsure smile, expecting a laugh or a reassuring glance. When their eyes met, however, the color drained from her cheeks, and she took a step backward. His left eye was glowing, and his sudden, frightening smile left her throat feeling dry. He effortlessly pushed her against the wall with one hand and leaned over her, his frame silhouetted against the partition of light beyond their darkened alcove. His teeth flashed in the darkness, but her attention remained fixed on his eyes, which gazed back at her with an alarming intensity. She squirmed, trying to look away from him. His free hand wandered to her hair, and he wound a stray braid around his finger, staring at it in fascination.

"Sheen, what are you _doin'_?" she hissed.

In response he leaned closer, and Future Libby shrunk back against the wall, the blood pounding in her ears. He touched her face, and her eyelids threatened to close. Desperately, she tried to regain control of the situation.

"Sheen!"

He didn't seem to hear her. He merely shifted his weight and brought his body closer to hers. His eyes traveled over her features, devouring each one in turn, as if he were seeing her for the first time. When he spoke at last, his voice was low and distant.

"Ten years Libby…ten years I was locked in that cell. Do you know what ten years in the dark does to a person?"

She suppressed a squeak. A shiver ran down her spine as his hand wandered dangerously close to restricted territory.

He grinned and murmured in her ear. "You know what kept me from going insane?"

"You mean, more insane than you already were?" she asked hopefully.

He didn't acknowledge her attempted joke, but merely smiled harder. "_YOU_. The thought of seeing you again…"

Future Libby entered full-out panic mode. Dizzy from the sight of him, the sound of him, the smell of him, she grabbed at the wall behind her.

"It seemed like I couldn't get you off my mind," he murmured, eyes half-lidded. "Your voice, your smile, your laugh…I waited for the day when I'd get to see you again."

"Sheen…don't…"

He petted her hair, his red eye glowing brighter. "When I was all alone for those endless hours, I thought about this moment. I imagined your eyes…"

He leaned in and gently brushed his lips across her eyelids.

"Your nose…"

He kissed the end of her nose, and his hot breath lingered in her nostrils. She shut her eyes and tilted her head down.

"…Your lips…"

For a breathless moment Future Libby was sure that she was going to faint. Terror and anticipation welled up inside her, but at the last minute Future Sheen straightened, suddenly tense.

"Footsteps again…"

He stealthily crept to the edge of the alcove and peered out. Future Libby seized the opportunity to turn away from him and gather her wits. Heart pounding, knees shaking, she drew in a deep breath.

"Get a hold of yourself, girl!" she chided under her breath. "This is _Sheen_ we're talkin' about here." Her hands flew to her burning cheeks, and she shook her head vigorously, her braids flying. "Oh jeez, why did he just do that? That was so…! Sheen doesn't _do_ stuff like that. Sheen is awkward and geeky and hyperactive and cute, not tall and dangerous and obscenely attractive and…oooh! Snap out of it girl!"

"Uh…Libby? Who are you talking to?"

She landed back in reality and, without meaning to, met his eyes. To her profound relief, there was no trace of the hunger that had been present just a moment before. He smiled back amiably, and the tension in the air broke.

"Don't worry, they're going the other way. You're perfectly safe here."

"Safe from _them_, at any rate…" she muttered.

"What was that?"

"Oh…n-nothing. What you were saying before. Are…are we almost there?"

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Uh…to tell you the truth, I don't really know how to get to the control room. I mean, I have a vague idea what the base looks like, but I'm kind of shooting blind here."

She sighed. "It's OK. If we keep walkin' in the same direction, we're bound to find it sooner or later. Maybe it's better if we take our time anyway. Aurora probably wants to take care of this on her own."

"Well, we'll give her plenty of time, then," he said slowly.

"I didn't mean…I just think we'd just be a distraction to Aurora. She…well, I mean, sometimes she…I uh…sometimes I…"

He grinned briefly at her verbal train wreck, then motioned for her to come along. Future Libby followed close behind, struggling to gather her discombobulated thoughts. He grabbed the gun from the floor on their way out and twirled it in a painfully transparent attempt to impress her. She laughed in relief, and the two of them resumed their silent trek toward the main control room. Closer…

….

Back in Sector 5, the door to the fifth room flew open, and all five kids and Goddard tumbled through and fell on the ground with an audible sigh of relief.

"Aww, man!" exulted Sheen. "It's a good thing I'm such a hyperactive insomniac or we would've all been stuck like Rip Van Winkle in there!"

Jimmy stood and straightened out his clothes. "How do you even_ know_ that term?"

"That's what the doctor told my dad after this one time that I ran around the house for 48 hours straight."

"Ah, well. That would do it."

Libby yawned loudly and shook Carl, who muttered incoherently. "No Mommy…just five more minutes…"

Jimmy helped Cindy to her feet, then prodded Carl with the tip of his shoe. "You can get up now. The effect of the last room should have worn off."

"Oh…"

The chubby boy rolled forward and grabbed onto Sheen's pant leg, then used it to haul himself up.

"Hey! You wanna watch where you're grabbing?"

"Sorry…"

They took a moment to survey their surroundings: the room started out wide on either end, then pinched into a narrow passageway in the center, like a gigantic hourglass.

"Hmm, guess the door out of here must be on the other side of that passage," deduced Jimmy.

Cindy took a step forward, and a cloud of finely ground powder billowed up on all sides of her foot. "What the…? Neutron, there's some kind of dust coating the floor."

"Really?" Frowning, he bent down to get a closer look. He brushed his fingertips across the ground, then rubbed the substance between his fingers. "Weird. It feels like corn starch…"

Libby looked down. "Come to think of it, it's all over my clothes."

"Ugh, mine too."

The girls rapidly brushed off their suits, kicking up the unidentified powder, which expanded and rose in delicate plumes until it reached face height. Jimmy's eyes grew wide, and he pulled the collar of his suit up over his mouth before he could inhale. His warning, however, came a few seconds too late.

"Hold your breath! Don't breathe it in!"

Even as the words left his mouth, the others broke out hacking on the airborne particles.

"What _is_ this stuff!" coughed Libby.

"I can't say with absolutely certainty," replied Jimmy, "but I suspect it's some sort of concentrated version of the love potion!"

Expressions of horror swept through the group, and Sheen darted forward.

"Quick, somebody break out the stinky cheese! I refuse to be at the beck and call of merciless lady love! I can't lose my freedom! I have my pride as a man to consider! I have…well, _helloooo__sweet thang_…"

He instantly changed pace and sidled over to Libby. He waggled his eyebrows and threw an arm around her shoulder, and she responded by giggling flirtatiously.

"Oh Sheen, stop being such a kidder! You're makin' me blush…"

He tickled the underside of her chin. "Hey there pretty lady…did you illegally park in a handicap space? 'Cause you got 'fine' written all over you…"

She played with a lock of her hair. "Cut it out!"

"Shall I compose a poem to your loveliness, a sonnet to your charms? Ahem: Libbylicious, you are sweeter than ice cream, more addictive than video games, hotter than summer vacation…"

"Sheen!"

"…more radiant than the Nebulon galaxy, and dare I say it, you make my heart beat faster than part 2 of the Ultralord season finale!"

Libby drew in her breath. "More than Ultralord? Sheen, I've never heard such a sweet compliment! You sure know how to make me smile…"

He leaned in closer. "I can do more than just make you smile…"

Jimmy gaped at the spectacle, eyebrows askew in simultaneous amusement and revulsion. Pulling his shirt tighter over his mouth, he awkwardly mimed sticking a finger down his throat.

"Ugh! Gag me!"

He stiffened a moment later when he felt a pair of hands slide up his shoulder blades. Cindy leaned over and whispered into his ear from behind.

"I think you like it…"

Jimmy's cheeks instantly flushed red. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"You know how I'm always picking on you and giving you a hard time? It's 'cause you get to me. You get under my skin like nobody else can."

Jimmy gulped, then carefully extracted himself from Cindy's embrace. "Uh, Cindy…" he said, backing away, "I appreciate what you're trying to say…but…uh…oh boy…"

She advanced toward him, eyes glittering alluringly. "Remember when we were stranded on the island together?"

He nodded dumbly.

"That was the happiest I've ever been. Whenever I'm having a bad day, I think back to that, and I feel better. Come to think of it, there's nobody I think about more than you. Sometimes I spy on you across the street with my Mom's binoculars."

"OK, that is _really_ creepy…and I…I…" His vision started to dim as the love potion overpowered his judgment.

"I love your big show-offy brain and your junky little tin rocket," she continued. "And I love it when your experiments go horribly awry, because it gives me an excuse to rag on you…"

She crossed the space between them and, looking up at him from under her eyelashes, slid a hand up his chest.

"No," he protested, "no, you're just saying that because of the pheromones…you don't really mean it…we have to get to the door…we have to…"

Goddard's rear compartment popped open, and the chorus of "Ice Ice Baby" started blaring from his speakers.

"Goddard! You're not helping!"

"Neutron…" she whispered, eyes asparkle.

He grew weaker. "You smell so good…"

Streams of sensation drizzled down him like warm syrup as the airborne powder seeped through the fabric of his suit. Mind dulled, limbs weak, and innards knotted, he searched for a way to escape. Instead, he found himself firmly glued to his position, unable to control his own actions. He opened his mouth to shout; instead, a soliloquy poured forth, sickeningly romantic words penned against his will by some sadistic, all-controlling force.

"Before you, Cindy, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars, points of light and reason. ….And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn't see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything."

Immediately after the words left his mouth, Jimmy's face crinkled into an expression of disgusted disbelief. "_Ugh_! What in the name of Carl Sagan was _that_? Who SAYS stuff like that?"

Cindy took a drag of the dusty air and then blew it out gently. "Shh…" she put a finger to her lips. "Just shut up and close your eyes…"

She leaned in to kiss him, but before she could bridge the gap, someone yanked him backward, and Cindy ended up face-planting onto Jimmy's chest instead.

"Stay away from him!" came Carl's catty voice. "He's mine!"

"Wait, what?" yowled Jimmy. "What the heck?"

"Don't leave me, Jimmy!" begged Carl. "I love you even more than your Mom!"

Cindy flailed her arms to regain her balance, and the brief pang of alarm caused her to return to her senses. "What the…? Did _Carl_ just steal Jimmy right out from under me_? _And since when did I become such a pathetic drool-monkey anyway?"

Libby's cry rang out from across the room. "Wait, Sheen, come back! I can't survive without you!"

Somebody grabbed Cindy's hand a second later, and she stumbled forward to find Sheen kneeling at her feet. He planted a kiss on her palm, then in a flourish jumped up and twirled her around.

"Oh flower of my heart! Apple of my eye! Grapefruit of my hand! Miscellaneous fruit of my nether regions! I can resist you no longer…you're so smart and blonde and talented!"

Cindy was shocked to find her natural reaction – detestation – give way to pleasant surprise. Her heartbeat quickened, and she tripped over her words, suddenly bashful.

"Sh-Sheen, I never knew you felt that way!"

"Sure I do! How could I not be crazy about a girl like you?"

"You mean, all those times that you got amped up on sugar, and I wanted to strangle you until your eyes popped out, you really were just trying to show me your real feelings?"

"You got it, sister. I think you're the most angelic, most beauteous, most…_most_…" His gaze wandered away from her face and re-focused on a point in the distance. "Oh, wow…I never noticed what _beautiful_ blue eyes Jimmy has…"

Sheen dropped Cindy, who landed with a thump on the dusty floor. He pirouetted over to Jimmy, who was busy tickling Carl's arm a few feet away. He rested his elbow on Jimmy's shoulder, then flashed him a come-hither smile.

"Hey there, big boy…" he purred seductively.

Jimmy looked over, and his mouth fell open. "Sheen…you're so tall…"

"And your nerdy little genius routine makes me _so _hot…"

Carl glanced past them and spied Libby, who was helping Cindy off the floor. In his mind, the lines of her body melted and coalesced into a giant candy Easter bunny.

"Oh _my…_" he gaped. "Libby is a chocolate goddess!"

Libby paid him no mind; all her attention was focused on her friend. She adjusted Cindy's suit for her and gently brushed a lock of hair off her forehead.

"Don't worry about them, girl. They're just stupid boys. We don't need them."

Cindy blushed. "L-Libby…"

"Shh…" she kissed Cindy on the nose. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

"Libby…you've always been there right next to me, but somehow I never noticed…"

Carl dashed forward after his cocoa idol, knocking Jimmy straight into Sheen's arms in the process. There was a moment of breathless silence as their eyes met.

"James…"

"Sheen…I can't stop thinking about you…"

Sheen leaned in, his mouth millimeters from the other boy's. "Kiss me, my big-headed…HEY! What the heck? Jimmy, what is your dog doing to my leg?"

Sheen pulled away, leaving Jimmy clear-headed for a moment. He shuddered violently and repetitively wiped his mouth.

"Of all the vile, repulsive…ugh! I almost kissed _Sheen! _This is madness! This is…_anarchy_! We need to get out of here before this situation gets any more out of control!"

Carl dove forward and slid on his knees, coming to a rest in front of the girls, who were staring into each other's eyes with a look of utter bliss.

"Libby! Please love me! I'll bring you cake and cookies and those weird rap CDs and anything that you want!"

"Why, Carl…" gasped Cindy, "you're so _rotund…_

Sheen yelled out from his spot across the way. "Hey! I need wine and flowers over here! Goddard is SO high maintenance!"

Jimmy stared straight down at the floor, desperately trying to keep from looking at any of the others.

"This is so hideously out of character! It's like we're caught in the middle of some horrible fanfiction! We've got to get out of here! Come on, Jimmy, think! Think…thiiiink…."

He retreated inside his own mind, searching for the elusive, last-minute inspiration that had saved him so many times before. Threads of insight wound through his inner vision, tangling and looping through cascading imagery, some real, some fanciful. But before he could arrive at a solution, his mental reverie devolved into a low-budget flick featuring a bikini-clad Cindy running down the beach in slow motion. Further clarification failed to dawn on him, and his brain-blast came to a close with nothing more than a lingering desire to see Cindy in yellow polka dots.

"What?" he shouted angrily. "That was _it?_ I can't get my brain to cooperate at all!"

He beat his fist against his own forehead to punish the culprit, then, feeling defeated, looked up to see what sort of pandemonium might be unfolding. Sheen was chasing Carl around the room, while Cindy and Libby were curled up on either side of a pimped-out Goddard, who was blasting "This is why I'm Hot" at full volume.

"Wait, Carl!" called Sheen. "I need you to bear my children!"

Carl ran in circles, arms extended. "I believe I can flyyyyyyyyy!…"

Fighting a wild, irrational attraction to each and everyone one of his friends, Jimmy had a flash of realization. What sense was there in fighting the love potion if he could use it to his advantage?

"Well, I can't believe I'm going to do this, but…when in Rome…"

The others looked up a moment later in response to the shrill whistle that resounded throughout the chamber. The sudden sound attracted their attention to Jimmy, who had assumed a seductive pose some distance away from the group. Back arched and rear end protruding, Jimmy touched a finger to his lips, his expression pinched into a coy, unsure smile.

"Hey you guys…"

He winked, then twirled around once, executing a subtle hair-flip at the end of the revolution. The room played scandalous tricks on their eyes – Cindy saw a lab-coat clad Jimmy, holding a bubbling test tube which casts greenish reflections on his face; Libby caught a glimpse of a boy in loose jeans, leaning coolly against a brick wall. Sheen saw an extremely feminine Jimmy decked out in a purple Ultralord swimsuit; Carl saw Jimmy with Judy's hairdo, and Goddard saw a very inviting leg.

Libby fanned herself. "What a hottie! I think I'm gonna pass out…"

Jimmy basked in the attention, calculating, letting his desire for all of their affections motivate his actions. "Ooooh guys…don't you wanna come play with me? I have all the desirable qualities in a mate! I'm youthfully rubicund and obstetrically capacious!"

Sheen jerked a thumb in Jimmy's direction. "I have no idea what that means, but I want me a piece of that!"

Jimmy turned and scampered away, swinging his hips from side to side in an over-the-top imitation of female decadence.

"Ya, that's right, come 'n get me…"

The others bolted after him; as they squeezed through the narrow center of the room, they pushed and shoved each other to vie for the best position.

"Out of my way, Carl, you big fat lump!" barked Cindy.

Sheen used his shoulder to pin her against the wall. "Cram it, sister!"

She pushed him off. "You cram it, ultrawimp! I'll kick your –"

"Hey, he's gettin' away!" pointed Libby.

Somehow the lust-intoxicated kids managed to break free from one another and stream out into the second half of the room. The moment they were through, Cindy clenched her fists, wheeled around, and slapped Libby across the face.

"I saw you! I saw you looking at him! How dare you try to steal him from me? I thought you were my best friend, you back-stabbing man-eater!"

Libby dragged the top of her hand across her mouth, and her shocked expression gave way to one of anger. "_Man_-_eater_? Oh, that's rich comin' from you! You were the one who stole Sheen from me back there, remember? You can't just help yourself to what's mine!"

Sheen draped his arms around the both of them, feigning cool nonchalance. "Ladies, ladies…there's enough of 'the Sheen' to go around for everyone. Don't you worry your pretty little heads…"

Libby threw his arm off. "Hey, don't tell her not to worry! You're supposed to be on my side, not hers!"

Jimmy marched over and thrust his way in between them. "Why on earth would he be on your side? He's _my_ best friend!"

Behind his glasses, Carl's eyes flashed. "I thought _I_ was your best friend, Jimmy."

"You're…you're both my best friends…"

"You can't have two!" countered Carl.

Sheen considered. "Hmm. He's right. You'll have to pick."

Jimmy looked back and forth between the two, caught off guard.

"Well, which one of us is it going to be?" demanded the red-haired boy.

After a few seconds of silence, Sheen inflated his chest proudly. "Aha! See? I told you he liked me best."

"No way! He didn't even say anything!"

Cindy leaned back against the wall, looking them up and down scornfully. "Pfft, you're both idiots. When it comes down to it, he'll always put me first, and you wanna know why? Because I've got something that you don't have."

"Girly parts?" suggested Sheen.

"Halitosis?" put in Carl.

"No you idiots! A _brain_!"

Libby rolled her eyes. "As if! Everyone knows guys don't care about brains. They only care about how you look. And I think we all know who will be the prettiest when we grow up…"

"Oh, don't be so full of yourself!" scoffed Cindy. "Your older self dresses like a skank!"

"Your older self IS a skank!"

"Oooh…burn…" winced Sheen.

Cindy whirled angrily to face him. "Shut up, Sheen!"

Their argument continued to escalate, becoming more and more irrational with each passing comment.

"What are you talking about, Vortex? My handwriting is infinitely superior to yours! What about your stupid curly-cue nonsense could possibly make you think it's better than mine?"

"Puh. Yours looks like it was written by a malfunctioning robot!"

"Bark bark bark!"

Jimmy grabbed at his head in frustration. "Ugh, just stop it, Vortex! Just stop it! Stop always trying to be better than me! It's useless, useless, useless! You'll never be better than me! And you look like a fool whenever you try! Just accept you're second best and get on with your life!"

He broke off, breathing hard. Sniffling in the quiet moment that followed, he wiped a finger under his nose, smearing sticky red across his face.

"N-Neutron…your nose…it's…"

A few seconds later, trickles of blood oozed from all their nostrils. Carl teetered a little, sickened, while Jimmy held his nose and tipped back his head.

"Must be some sort of after-affect of that powdered love potion," he surmised, voice muffled. "Man, what were we thinking, shouting at each other like that? If this room was able to cause a nosebleed, who knows what other kind of psychosomatic damage we might be sustaining? I don't want to get out of here only to collapse from internal hemorrhaging. Let's keep our heads and keep moving."

They nodded, frightened by their own behavior. Clasping their nostrils shut in unison, they followed Jimmy to the door a few feet away. He turned the handle and pushed it open.

"Hold your breath…"

* * *

LOOOL OK, good job getting through that. Painful, I know. I hope I showed, very clearly, the difference between a good romance scene and a horrifically OOC one. Oh, and props to anyone who caught the line I lifted from a certain (in)famous work of literature...

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	41. Alter Ipse Amicus

First of all,

I'd like to apologize for my extremely long absence. Last semester was just...well, _insane_, and as a result my creative energy tank was running on empty. But I'm back now, and I'm ready to finish this fic!

You'll have to excuse me if this chapter seems weird/fragmented (even the title is out of the ordinary, since it's in Latin - you might want to google the meaning), but I hope you won't judge it till the end. Read on!

Illustration: (remove the spaces and substitute (dotcom) for . and com ): ac aciat ho r n . d evia nta rt(dotcom)/art/I-Promise-It-Won-t-Hurt-304421341

* * *

**Chapter 41: Alter Ipse Amicus**

Future Carl plunged ahead. He passed through Sector 4 and the Main Control Room and into Sector 5 without the faintest awareness of his surroundings. He ran for the sake of running – the past which stretched out behind him was a wasteland of widely-spaced footprints; his future was only more of the same. But no matter where he went, no matter how fast he sprinted, he could not outrun his own dead weight.

"I've got to get…to the room…"

He panted the words to himself, rationalizing and repeating until his tiny nugget of guilt shrank and faded away. The bliss room was a drug, a balm, a healing salve built on lies and trickery; nevertheless he rushed toward it with the desperate resolve of one pursuing a mirage.

"I have to…I _need_ to this time…I don't go there that often, but this time it's too much…"

Over and over his feet struck the ground, but his thoughts didn't change. He didn't change. Nothing ever changed…

Future Carl skidded to a halt in front of a blank panel on the wall. He swiped the palm of his hand over the inactive screen, and the words 'Control Panel: Sector 5, Zone 7' appeared on the monitor, followed by a series of other options. He selected one of them, and a schematic of the emotions maze popped up on the touch-screen. With a brush of his fingertips, he highlighted a small block of the rooms and, with another rapid click, powered them down. Feeling a touch of relief mixed with self-reproach, he rested his forehead against the wall – now a path had been cleared between himself and the bliss room.

"I shouldn't be doing this..."

After a few more self-disparaging comments, he gathered his wits enough to push away from the wall. He brushed a curl heavy with perspiration out of his field of vision before heading toward a door to his left. It swung open automatically upon his approach. He shook his head once and, squaring his shoulders, stepped through it and into the maze.

...

Jimmy pushed open the door to the next room, and a gust of wind whistled over the kids.

"Air currents?" he muttered, shielding his eyes. "How is that possible? …Is another door open?"

They peered through the doorframe into the chamber, which was square and drab. The walls, floor, and ceiling were painted an identical shade of dark gray.

Libby winced. "What God-awful interior decorator is responsible for this paint job?"

"That would be me, I believe," replied Jimmy.

"Yeesh…"

Carl tugged on Jimmy's arm. "I've got a really bad feeling about this one, Jimmy…and I'm not just saying that this time."

"We're almost out, Carl. We've made it through all the other rooms…it's nothing we can't handle." Carl continued to hang back, and Jimmy sighed. "Fine, I'll go first. Here, see? There's nothing to worry abou–"

Jimmy took one step into the room, and instantly his eyes rolled back into his head, and he flopped down like a limp doll. Cindy lurched forward to catch him.

"Neutron! –" As soon as she cleared the threshold, she too seized up and collapsed beside the fallen Jimmy. She convulsed once, then lay still.

"Cind!" Libby reached after her friend, and for a moment it looked as though the domino effect would continue. Sheen hurdled forward to stop her from making the same mistake as Cindy, but instead tripped over his own shoelace, causing them both to plow face-first into the floor beside Jimmy. In the space of five seconds the whole ordeal was over, and all four of them lay motionless.

Carl recoiled with a panicked screech. "Jimmy! Sheen! Libby! Ahhhh, what do I do? What do I do?"

"Grrr mbark bark bark bark!"

"I don't know what that means! Goddard, help! …Do something!"

"Eeow, bark bark!"

"Oh no! Oh no! Come on guys, wake up! Wake up!"

For a brief moment, Carl half expected his friends to awaken of their own accord; instead, they remained where they were, laid across the grungy concrete like tangled marionettes with no one to hold the strings.

"G-guys? Can you…can you hear me?"

They made no reply, for they heard no question: Jimmy, Cindy, Sheen, and Libby were completely cut off from the exterior world – the instant they had entered the room, they were ripped one from another; rent apart, scattered, thrown into the farthest corners of existence and left completely alone.

"Hello? Hello?" The next thing Jimmy knew, he was by himself, standing on the very precipice of a bottomless canyon. Roiling storm clouds churned overhead; thunder rolled in the distance. The air was dewy with impending rain, and wisps of wind tugged on the sleeves of his red atom shirt.

He glanced down. "That's funny…when did I change back into my t-shirt?"

A gust nudged him forward, and he flapped his arms to catch his balance. Shuddering, he stared down into the chasm beneath his feet. When he looked up again, a dark castle loomed immediately ahead of him. He stumbled backward as his eyes climbed its full height.

"Whoa! Where did that come from?"

As if in answer, a bell tolled inside the fortress, and the portcullis rose with a _clink-clink-clink._

Jimmy whistled. "Wheeeew. Analyze _this_ one, Freud…" When he looked back down, the canyon was gone. Gulping quietly, he took a hesitant step forward toward the threshold of the castle gate.

All the while, his physical body lay catatonic on the floor of the room, only a few inches away from the immobile bodies of his friends.

"Hey! Enough's enough, Neutron! What's going on?"

Cindy stood alone in the middle of a wind-swept plain. The air was dusty and stale, and skeletal brambles strained skyward from between pockets of cracked earth. Cindy took a nervous step backward, and something brittle snapped beneath her heel. Frowning, she turned to discover the remains of a shattered human skull. With a cry, she stumbled away, but her toe caught in a tangle of thorns, and she plummeted earthward.

"Oof!" she hit face-first.

Digging her fingers into the soil, she spit out a clod of dirt and hauled her torso off the ground. As Cindy raised her gaze, a gale of hot wind slammed into her, and she threw up one arm to shield her face. Ahead of her, a light pierced through the clouds: like a wound in the sky, it dripped fire instead of blood. The air howled and churned as silent lightning flashed around the apocalyptic blaze – then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the light vanished, and a black vortex spiraled open in the space where it had been. Cindy rose slowly, overcome with awe.

"…What…is that?" she murmured.

Her real body barely breathed.

"Marco! …Ahem, I _said_, Marco!" There was a pause as Sheen waited for a response. "Come on, it's not fair if one of you doesn't yell back 'Polo'! No cheating, you guys! Polo, anyone? …Anyone? Hellooooo…" Sheen peeked out from between his fingers. "Hey, what's the big idea? We're not in the pool!"

Sheen dropped his hands and took a look around. Twilight veiled the grassy clearing where he stood. The smell of damp leaf litter lingered in his nose, and beads of dew tickled his bare ankles. Ahead of him, rows upon rows of trees stood like sentinels; a greenish mist hung in between the moss-covered trunks. There was no birdsong, no sound of flowing water, no chirping crickets…merely a staccato unease beneath the silence.

Sheen swallowed nervously. "OK, I'm _really_ wishing I had my Ultralord Utility Belt right about now…" A twig crunched behind him, and he whirled around, aiming a finger-gun into the fading daylight. "I-I'm warning you! Don't come any closer! I'm…really an angry mob in disguise!"

A guttural growl rumbled from among the trees. Sheen looked around frantically, biting his fingernails; he spied a rock nestled in the grass and reached down to snatch it. His arms trembled as he cradled it against his chest.

"I've got a rock, and I'm not afraid to use it!"

A voice whispered into Sheen's ear from behind, and hot, moist breath settled on his skin. "And you shouldn't be…"

With a yelp, Sheen dropped the rock and whipped around. There, a few feet in front of him, crouched a carbon copy of himself – albeit dressed in rags, and covered here and there in patches of thick fur. Sheen exhaled in relief.

"Oh, man, it's just werewolf me! You had me scared for a second there, buddy."

Werewolf Sheen bounded away on all fours, disappearing into the grove of gray-green trees.

"Hmm, I've never met my Halloween costume in a dream before. Hey, that's right! If this is a dream, then I can fly!" He strained on tip-toe, grunting and grimacing at the sky, with no effect. After a moment he ceased his fruitless efforts. "OK, so maybe this _isn't_ a dream…which means…" Sheen turned around slowly, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. "Uhh…you're not a mirage by any chance, are you?"

Werewolf Sheen leaned out from behind a peeling trunk, yellow eyes shining. "I'm the skin beneath your skin, the meat beneath your meat. I'm your blue and purple insides, the slime and the phlegm and the blood and the bile."

Sheen winced. "Eew, what the heck? That is _nas_-_ty_. Man, Libby was right. I _am_ extra weird as a werewolf. Say, weird-me, you wouldn't happen to have a map on you or something, would you?"

There was a brief pause. "…Libby? …Mmm, where's _she_?" Werewolf Sheen purred the words hungrily, and a tremor of alarm raced through his human counterpart.

"Uh…not here…" said Sheen, backing away. "…Hey, listen…you're really starting to creep me out, so…I'll just be going now."

The werewolf crept backward until he melted into the olive fog, and Sheen gratefully released the breath he'd been holding. He nearly jumped out of his skin a moment later when he felt a clawed hand tugging on his pant leg. He turned to find the creature skulking at his feet.

"Take me with you."

"How did you get behind me…?"

"I want to see everyone. I'm lonely here. How do you think I feel? There's no TV or sugar or Ultralord. There's nothing to do at all. Heck, I'd even prefer summer school to this place."

Sheen jumped back, gasping. "Egads! Blasphemy!"

"You see?" coaxed Were-sheen. "It's _that_ bad. So please, please, _please_ let me come with you. All it takes is one little word."

For a moment, Sheen's judgment wavered. Then the werewolf smiled up at him, exposing rows of blood-stained, predatory teeth. Sheen took a tiny step backward, then another.

"Uh…maybe some other time…but for now I have to RUN!" He turned and sprinted away from the forest, the surreal setting pounding by in a blur of adrenaline.

Were-Sheen leaped after him, snarling. "You won't get away from me!"

The werewolf rapidly gained on the boy. With no way to escape, Sheen screeched to a halt, sending shredded grass and clumps of dirt shooting out from under his sneakers. He faced his aggressor, fists clenched but expression pleading.

"Listen, man, I can help you find a sheep to eat or something first, but I really have to go look for my friends!"

"I don't want a sheep! I'm after you! And if you won't come willingly, then I'll take you by force!"

The werewolf sprung onto Sheen, and they both crashed to the ground, rolling over each other in a tangle of claws and fur and shredding cloth. Were-Sheen pinned the human boy and savagely grinned down as his victim struggled to break free.

"Hahaha!" laughed the creature. "Look at you! What a waste of effort. Keep fighting! Ask yourself, 'what would Ultralord do?' Haha!"

Sheen wriggled. "You know, I would, except Ultralord has never written a self-help book on 'how to defeat your freaky wolf-man self in some weird dream thing'. And you call yourself a fan? Pathetic."

The werewolf arched his neck to the sky and let out a blood-curdling howl; when he looked back down again, all the color had drained from his captive's face. "This isn't a dream! This is real! You're about to self-destruct, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. You're stupid and weak. You fail at everything you do, and you waste your life watching a pointless cartoon. Libby only pretends to like you because she feels bad for you, and Jimmy just keeps you around because no one better has come along yet. Carl is his _real_ best friend. And why not? Why would anyone want you? You ruin everything. Cowardly, annoying, under-achieving, Mother-less loser!"

With a perverse smile, the werewolf lunged down and sunk his teeth into Sheen's shoulder. Sheen's whole body spasmed as burning tendrils radiated from the wound and flowed across his chest.

"I'll get rid of all that for you," whispered the werewolf. "I'll _cure_ you. And then we'll go hunting together."

Sheen felt his fingernails lengthen and his muscles twist underneath his skin. His senses sharpened and branched into synesthesia – scents became colors and sounds morphed into sights. Sitting up, he swiveled his neck and sniffed the night air; somewhere, far away, the scent of flesh drifted on the breeze.

"Let's go..."

Back in her dream, Cindy pushed her bangs out of her face and squinted up at the hypnotic whirlpool – as if in a trance, she began picking her way across the dead plain. Next instant, time skipped ahead, and the scenery rushed by her in lagging, zigzagging frames. She found herself standing at the very event horizon of the black portal.

"Whoa! How did I…"

She jumped in surprise when she saw her own face staring back at her from inside the vortex. She exhaled in relief, believing it to be only her own reflection – but then the face smiled of its own accord.

Cindy pulled back. "Wh-Who are you?"

Her doppelganger morphed forward out of the spinning hole in the sky. The black clung to her like a second skin, before turning to liquid in the sunlight and running off her body in gummy streams. Beneath the gunk, this second Cindy was clad in venom green from head to toe, except for an evil-looking black necklace.

"What kind of a question is that? You know who I am."

"I do?" asked Cindy.

"Of course. I'm you. And not _just_ you. I'm the _real_ you."

"Huh? What are you talking about? _I'm_ the real me. Where did you come from anyway?"

The green Cindy ignored the question, and instead spread her arms to indicate the wasteland around them. "You see this?"

"Ya? It's a desert. What of it?"

"This is you."

Cindy raised an eyebrow. "I'm a hallucination caused by an evil dictator's emotion-manipulation technology?"

The other Cindy giggled. "Clever! We're so clever, aren't we? But no, that's not what I meant. The room you're in now isn't making you hallucinate. It has merely lifted the barrier between your conscious, subconscious, and unconscious. It put you in touch with your deepest self. Your _real_ self."

Cindy looked up. "And I suppose the vortex in the sky is a kitschy metaphor for my last name? Really, I thought my subconscious would be more creative."

The other Cindy laughed again, and each tittering word was a concealed knife. "What a good joke."

There was a moment of tension as Cindy tried to regain her footing in the conversation. "Look, I hate to be rude, but would you mind staying out of my face for a few minutes, so I can figure out what the heck is going on and find a way to get back to reality?"

"This _is_ reality. The world you see around you is just a reflection of what's inside you."

Cindy frowned. "Is that some kind of riddle? Are you saying that if I alter my perceptions, this desert-world will disappear?"

The green Cindy paused, puzzled. "What gave you that idea? Of course it's not a riddle. Your personality is your personality. You can't change it. …And honestly, why would you want to go back there anyway? Stay here. It's who you are, it's where you belong."

Cindy peered past her doppelganger and sized up the rotating black vortex. "If I go through that," she pointed, "will it take me out of here?"

In response, the second Cindy stepped forward and crossed her arms, blocking Cindy's view. "Don't ignore me!"

"There's no need to get so pushy! Jeez!"

"I'm not being pushy! Besides, I just told you, you're not leaving."

"Uh…you wanna run that by me again?"

Dream Cindy leaned forward, and her manner shifted to one of open hostility. "Ya, as a matter a fact, I _do_. I _said_, I'm not going to let you leave. You're staying here with me."

"Pfft, you can't tell me what to do! Now get out of my way!"

She tried to muscle past, and Dream Cindy's face twisted into an expression of childish rage. She shoved Cindy, who, caught off guard, tripped backward and fell to the ground.

"What'd you do that for?" scowled Cindy, jerking upright. "What the heck is the matter with you?"

The green Cindy released a spiteful, unstable cackle that rose and coiled like a snake. "Look at you, all covered in dirt! What a pathetic little wimp! Roll around in the dirt some more! Nya na na na na!"

Cindy hauled herself up, simultaneously disgusted and amused. "I don't believe it! You're nothing but a petty, immature little bully! Now bug off, before I deck you back!"

"Hahahaha! There goes the pot, calling the kettle black! Hahaha! Petty? A bully? I'm right, you're wrong! Hahahaha! Everyone but me! Me! Me!" She laughed wildly, stamping the ground with her foot.

Cindy backed away, shaking her head back and forth slowly. "You're crazy! I am out of here."

The green Cindy looked up abruptly. The action was startling, for her whole countenance had changed. Her eyes were unnaturally wide; they gazed dully to the fore, immobile, while her words tumbled out from behind a twisted, piano-key smile. "You _can't_ get out of here, Cindy. You can never truly get away from yourself. If you reject what you really are, I will destroy you."

Cindy made a fist. "I'm in control of myself and my actions, not you! Now get out of the way! If you threaten me again, I'll take you out!"

Dream Cindy listlessly tipped her head to one side. "You can't destroy destruction. To do so only causes more destruction…" She raised her arm languidly, and the earth began to tremble.

"What's…what's going on?"

Green Cindy was suddenly shouting. "I'll show you what you are!"

Next moment, sharp grains of sand rose from the ground and swarmed through the air, stinging Cindy's skin like a hundred frenzied bees. She cried out and turned to run, but stumbled as the landscape pitched about like a ship's deck in a tempest. The world rattled and cracked and rent apart, until the very sky itself began to crumble. The pieces rained down around her like chunks of dry plaster, and Cindy threw her arms up over her head to protect herself.

"Hahahaha! I'll make everything fall apart. Rationalize, rationalize! I'll wreck it! I'll wreck it all!"

"Stop it! Stop it, please!" begged Cindy. "What's the matter with you? Don't _be_ like this!"

"Useless, useless, useless! Now die, disappear, cease to exist; break, break, break!"

The fragments of celestial debris piled up over Cindy, crushing her, pushing her down. After one last struggle, the whole stack collapsed down on her and extinguished her consciousness. As the rubble settled to the ground, Green Cindy slouched forward, panting from the force of her exertion. After a moment she looked up, and tears trickled down her cheeks and around her deranged, grief-stricken smile.

"I just wanted you to stay with me. That's why I…" She staggered slightly, then slumped down on the broken turf, a fragile little child alone in the wreckage. "Why wouldn't you?" she whimpered. "I'm sorry. Come back. Love me, please, just accept me…don't leave me here, all alone…"

But there was no answer, and then even the heavens themselves went dark, as if someone had switched off the light.

Libby's eyelids fluttered open in her dream, and she found herself standing in the middle of a long passageway. Every few paces, a torch bathed the hieroglyph-covered walls in flickering orange. Beyond these oases of light the cavernous passage faded into purple gloom. The air was stiflingly hot, and the powder fine-dust which settled on her skin sapped away its moisture.

"Queen Howsaboutislapya's tomb?" she murmured, glancing around. "How'd I wind up here?"

She took a few cautious steps forward. The crackling flames did little to mask the deep, rumbling silence of the tomb, and Libby's unease only grew as she proceeded down the passageway. She approached a pair of sealed doors, which were fashioned from fragrant cedar and inlaid with garnets and lapis lazuli. Carven images of pharaohs and their consorts worshipped a pantheon of animal-headed gods, while twin paintings of the goddess Hathor flanked the entrance. Gulping, Libby summoned up her courage and gave the handle a push. To her surprise, it swung open.

"That was easier than I…"

She trailed off, unprepared for the sight that awaited her. The sanctuary was filled with treasure – chests loaded with jeweled necklaces and bracelets, tall alabaster vases, tables laden with waterfowl and honeycakes, gilded statues of muscular gods, boxes overflowing with amulets and shabtis – and everywhere gold, piles upon piles of gold, shining fiercely in the light from the torches.

"Oh, my…"

The whites of Libby's eyes reflected the fevered glitter. After glancing furtively behind her, she approached the nearest chest and began pawing through its contents.

"Look at this necklace!" she exclaimed, turning a scarab pendant over in her hands. "I bet this'd go great with my teal dress...man, I gotta find a way to get this stuff outta here. Hmm…"

"_Who goes there?"_

Libby spun around, and her braids ricocheted off her cheek. At the far end of the room, on top of a raised dais, sat a girl about her own size. The uraeus cobra curled out from her brow, and a heavy beaded collar spanned the distance between her delicate brown shoulders. Four sets of bracelets covered her arms, and a blue sash closed her snowy linen gown tightly across her waist - but beneath all the finery, she was clothed in Libby's normal pink shirt and jeans. It was only then that Libby was able to pin down the girl's real identity: not Queen Howsiboutislapya at all, but Libby herself, costumed to look like an Egyptian.

"You're…me?" she asked breathlessly.

The Queen fell back against her throne, aghast at having been addressed in such a direct manner. "How dare you show such disrespect to your queen! Who do you think you are, comin' in here without an invitation!"

Libby hesitated, confused. "In…vitation?"

"Of course. Everyone knows that an invitation is required before having an audience with the queen."

Next moment, Libby got a real fright. The area around the dais came to life with movement, as half a dozen mummified guards shifted in their stations. The room filled with the sound of rattling bone and straining sinew, as the dried-out husks swiveled to fix their eye sockets on her. Jewelry did nothing to lessen the gruesomeness of their soiled wrappings, which dangled in shreds from their limbs. Libby shuddered, goose flesh crawling over her body. She forced herself to turn back to the queen and attempt a curtsy.

"Please forgive me, uh… your ladyship. I just sort of woke up in the hallway outside. I didn't mean to intrude..."

For a moment, the queen's mannerisms mirrored Libby's own. "Hold up! Whaddya mean, you woke up in the hallway outside? Did someone leave you there while you were asleep?"

"It's kind of a long story, and I don't really have the energy to explain it all right now. It's been a rough day..."

"I don't care what kind of a day it was! Explain why you trespassed here!"

"Cut me some slack, will ya? I didn't know it was against the rules to come in here... I just found the door and didn't know where else to go."

The queen stuck her nose in the air, resuming her arrogant imperial manner. "Ignorance of the law is no excuse. You have seen my majesty when I was not prepared to receive visitors, you interrupted my planning session for the party I'm throwing tonight – and worse still, you put your greedy little hands on MY treasure! For that you must suffer the consequences. Courtiers, do your thing, and dispose of her!"

Before Libby could blink twice, the bejeweled mummies had descended upon her. They grasped her body with their bony, desiccated fingers, but her scream never made it out of her throat. When she tried to pull away, they threw her down onto the ground and bound her hands behind her back with a golden cord. Grabbing her roughly by the shoulders, the mummies hauled her up enough for the queen to see her dirt-smeared face.

"Please!" implored Libby. "This is all just a misunderstandin'! This is some sort of weird dream or somethin'…I need to get back to my friends!"

"Is there no end to your insolence? A dream? Ha! Guards, impale the little liar on the torturer's stake!"

They wrenched her off the ground, and Libby struggled wildly. This time her words to the queen were not pleading, but panicked. "How can you do this? You're _me_! Don't you recognize your own face when you see it? Look! Look at what you're wearing underneath all that Egyptian stuff. How can you not see that you and I are the same person? Haven't you looked at yourself in the mirror before? You must be blind not to recognize your own face when you see it!"

The Queen rose up from her throne, practically seething with anger. "Blind? You want _blind_? You shall have eternal blindness! Guards, I've changed my mind about her punishment. Lock her in a sarcophagus."

The Queen's servants pulled Libby up, then dragged her over to a row of sarcophagi lined up against the wall. The nearest coffin was painted to look like a beautiful young woman with azure hair and winged arms; her serene expression belied the cruel fate awaiting the one entombed within her. Two of the mummies worked together to lift the coffin, tilt it horizontal, and place it down on the floor. Libby coughed on the cloud of dust kicked up by the casket, then redoubled her efforts to escape.

"No! Let me go!" Lashing out, she kicked over a table covered in gold statuettes, which crashed noisily to the ground.

The Queen's gaze snapped to the fallen idols, and she hastily added another command. "And fill the coffin with necklaces and jewels. Let's show her how useful fashion is when you don't have a crust of bread to eat."

Tears came to Libby's eyes as the monsters pushed her to the floor – she could hear their dried flesh creaking, feel their knobby hands as they bore down on her shoulder blades, smell their fetid odor as they tied her legs together with a length of rope. Though her face was buried in the sand, the metallic clatter of treasure hitting wood made it perfectly clear what was happening. The weight on Libby's shoulders relented, and she was able to roll onto her side and spit out a clod of dirt. Sweating from fear and from the stress of moving without the help of her limbs, Libby heaved her torso off the ground and sat up to face the queen. The undead stood in a semicircle around their victim, waiting for their mistress to finish her final speech.

"This is my realm, not yours," proclaimed the Queen. "This is what you get for digging in forbidden soil. Pray to your gods that someone will come along to save you... because you have _no_ hope of saving yourself from the fate that I've prepared for you."

"This is just a dream," said Libby. "I fell asleep, and I still haven't woken up – you're just a… mental projection, or somethin'…"

"Enough. Guards, gag her and throw her in the sarcophagus. Then we'll get back to plannin' the party."

One of the mummies ripped a length of rotted cloth from his own arm and rolled it into a ball. Libby anticipated his next action, and with a shriek, tried to pull away. Another one of her captors grabbed her by the head and pried open her jaws, while the first mummy shoved the vile wrapping into her mouth. Her cries muffled, the mob hoisted her off the ground and dumped her into the open coffin. Assailed by terror, disbelief, and the cold bite of the treasure, Libby barely had time to drink in one last glimpse of light before the lid slammed shut.

Jimmy was still alone. After wandering through countless stone corridors, up meandering flights of stairs, and past rows of locked doors, he turned the corner and happened upon an open doorway. Attracted by a glow from within, he entered the chamber. He found himself inside a vast holographic planetarium: as he crossed the wooden floorboards, stars and planets whizzed overhead in a harmonious cosmic dance. Jimmy reached up and brushed his hand through a galaxy, and the individual stars scattered like pixie dust. He turned about, smiling in wonder at the sight.

"Superb! This is so well programmed!"

"You like it?" came a voice. "You built it."

Jimmy tensed up. "Who said that? Show yourself!"

A second Jimmy stepped through a spiral galaxy hanging in midair, parting stars as if they were strands on a beaded curtain. He was dressed in a white lab coat. "Well actually, _I_ built it, but it's basically the same thing."

The two geniuses quietly observed each nother before one of them spoke.

"What are you?" asked Jimmy. "Part of the hologram? My clone?"

"Neither, actually. But that's not important. Now, I'm curious: what's the last thing you remember before you came here?"

"I was…stepping into a new room in the emotions maze, when all of the sudden I looked down and I was standing at the edge of a canyon instead. Did that room…transport me somewhere? Or am I under some sort of hypnosis?"

"This room has created an interface between the different realms of your consciousness. It will let you dig up what's buried deep down inside."

"DJ wouldn't make a room devoted to a meet and greet with the subconscious," said Jimmy distrustfully. "This maze is designed to destroy the people who wander into it, not give them insight into themselves. What's the _real_ purpose of the room? Is it merely to stall for time while we're trapped in this state?"

"I suggest you don't worry about it. Try to think of this as…a learning experience."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly will I be learning?"

"You'll have to wait and see, won't you?"

The holographic planetarium vanished from sight and was replaced by a laboratory, complete with eerie lighting and racks of bubbling test tubes. Jimmy looked around at the rows of Erlenmeyer flasks and tables dotted with half-finished inventions, before turning to his double with an ironic smirk.

"Mad scientist's lab?"

"In a manner of speaking…" The labcoat-clad Jimmy lounged against one of the tables, smiling easily. "This is all so thrilling, don't you agree? The others will not be able to carry out a dialogue like the one we are having. Their brains simply haven't developed the necessary reasoning capacities...cognitively, they are still just pre-pubescent children. Therefore, they will not be able to make sense of this experience in the same way that you will. Sure, they'll feel fear and disgust and bewilderment, but they won't understand what it means."

"Fear?" repeated Jimmy, frowning. "Disgust? Just what sort of meaning am I supposed to be taking away from this?"

The double ignored the question, and instead asked one of his own. "Would you like me to show you my latest experiment?"

Jimmy hesitated for a moment, but curiosity got the better of him. "Well…I suppose it wouldn't hurt…"

The doppelganger uttered a short voice command, and the floor began to shake. The glassware rattled on the tabletops, and Jimmy tentatively extended a hand toward the nearest bench, just in case he needed to steady himself. With a loud grating noise, a trap door slid open, and a slab-like object rose up from beneath the floorboards.

"What is that?"

The second Jimmy pushed away from the table he'd been leaning against. "Care to have a closer look?"

The two boys headed over to the object, which proved to be a three-by-five foot brick of solid gray material, with a human-shaped indentation in the center. The surface was covered in a tangle of wires and metal nodes which hooked in to a nearby computer. Jimmy eyed the device with suspicion as he examined what appeared to be a set of leather restraints.

"Uh…what exactly does this thing _do_?"

"Well, nothing at the moment. It's incomplete. But, when it's finished, it'll be the most powerful computer ever built."

Jimmy bent closer, teasing out the individual wires. "It doesn't look like a computer to me. It looks more like a…well, like a cardiograph-encephalograph combo, with a bit of stasis technology thrown in to boot."

His double grinned. "You're getting warmer. Let's see if I can give you a hint…all right: what is the most powerful computer on earth?"

"Well, as of right now," recalled Jimmy, "I'm pretty sure that the fastest supercomputer is capable of something like a million billion calculations per second."

"That's right. It's amazing what it can do, really - if six billion people were to do one sum per second on a calculator, it would take them 46 years to do what that computer could do in one day. And yet, in terms of the flexibility of its reasoning and its creative power, the world's greatest supercomputer is still 50 times less powerful than the human brain. Now, here's where things get interesting – what if the two could be made to work in tandem? What if a human brain and a supercomputer could be linked together into one, super-intelligent hybrid computer?"

"It's an interesting thought," granted Jimmy, "but it wouldn't work – the human brain simply isn't built to handle the kind of calculations that go on inside a normal computer. You could never join them together into a single entity, at least not without completely destroying the brain in question."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. You see, with the help of my Brain Gain helmet, I can increase the intelligence of the subject until they can withstand the union. And from there it's only a matter of strapping them in and hooking them up. That's where this device comes in: I call it _The Platform,_ and it acts as an interface between the organic computer in a person's head and an artificial intelligence. Where one falls short, the other excels – it's the perfect complementary technology."

He chuckled blithely, but Jimmy looked unconvinced.

"But…what happens to the test subject? The computer would never function in an orderly manner if it were controlled by unstructured human thought. The mind is a strange and complex organ – the subject would likely have all sorts of mental blocks, and who knows what kind of things could be lurking in the depths of the unconscious, ready to steer the computer in random directions…"

"That's why the test subject would have to be, for lack of a more politically-correct term, brain-dead upon insertion," said Jimmy's double evenly.

"B-Brain-dead?"

"Of course. I need the power of the organ without the fallibility of awareness. The success of the experiment depends wholly on the subject being unconscious and without willpower. The brain must be merely a component of the system – a gear in the machine, if you will. In fact, it would even be possible to hook up more than one test subject, allowing for an even stronger and faster processor."

"But…you'd have to strip away their identities, turn them into a computational vegetable garden!" blurted Jimmy. "Who on earth would be willing to submit to an experiment like that?"

The second Jimmy smiled again, but this time his lips had a sinister curl. "Why, no one, I imagine. But that wouldn't stop me."

Jimmy backed up a step. "You- you can't do that! You can't force that kind of an experiment on someone! It's…_wrong_!"

" 'Wrong'? 'Right'? What do those categories even _mean_? You know the answer as well as I: they mean nothing. Those concepts exist solely to facilitate human social interaction. There is no real meaning or value in anything – well, other than numerical value. Math and science are the only things that have substance, and even they are imperfect. That's what you really believe, and this project aims to further that end."

"That's not true at all!" defended Jimmy. "I've always believed in right and wrong. Science needs a degree of self-awareness, or else it has no framework in which to operate. I need to be a moral person; otherwise, how could I understand the impact of my inventions?"

"You, a moral person? Whatever gave you that idea? All the evidence points to the contrary. Where's your sense of right and wrong when you're endangering the people you love with your careless experimentation? Don't your actions PROVE that you care far more about technological advancement than you do for the welfare of those closest to you?"

"That's not at all what I –"

Jimmy's copy interrupted. "Let's have a recap, shall we? What about the time you nearly got everyone in your town killed by aliens because you thoughtlessly sent a message into deep space? Or how about when you brainwashed your parents into giving you extra birthday presents, or mutated your teacher, or plunged Retroville into an Ice Age? Where was your sense of right and wrong when you cloned yourself, and then put those creations – who were living beings – on ice, thereby denying them of their right to live? And what about all the times you've risked Carl's life in the name of science – Carl, your very best friend? If you search through your memory, I'm sure you'll find plenty of similar examples. Are those really the actions of someone who cares about being 'moral'?"

"OK," admitted Jimmy sheepishly, "so maybe I haven't always made the best decisions, but I always come through in the end and save everyone from the disasters that my inventions cause. And it's not like I haven't saved the earth from other catastrophes – like when that meteor was heading straight for Retroville. And what about all the dangerous villains I've sent to jail over the years?"

"They're not the danger, _you are_. Sooner or later, the day will come when you aren't able to save everyone from whatever monster you've most recently created. It's a simple question of statistics."

"I'll find a way around it!" shouted Jimmy.

"Will you? Maybe you will. Or maybe by then you'll realize the truth about the cost of advancement. Progress demands sacrifice; there are bound to be some casualties along the way. And why should that be a problem? You're better than all of them anyway – look at the amazing things you create!"

Jimmy whirled around, fists clenched. "This conversation has gone far enough! I am out of here."

"Think again."

Jimmy strode forward, red with anger – until it dawned on him that the doorway leading into the room had mysteriously vanished, leaving him with no way out. He turned back to face his enemy, goose-bumps rising all over his body.

"That's a neat trick, but you can't keep me here forever."

"Can't I?" The double snapped his fingers, and Jimmy suddenly found himself lying on his back, his arms and legs pinned to his sides.

"What the – ? How did you…?" He struggled to sit up, but a set of leather restraints held him firmly in place. He realized with a lurch of fear that he had been strapped into _The Platform._ "This is cruel and unethical! Let me go!"

His captor stared down at him without the slightest hint of remorse or conscience, as if he were nothing more than a specimen on the dissecting table.

"I don't need your approval. That's not why you're here. You have a far more important role to play – can you guess what it is?"

"You're a lunatic!" exclaimed Jimmy. "This room doesn't connect us to our subconscious – it's a leg-trap for our intellect…and our most depraved tendencies are the teeth!"

The labcoat-clad genius laughed. "Eloquently put! You're right, of course. This room hijacks your flaws and fears, and then it uses them against you. It lies and manipulates and captures and ruins – whatever it takes to make you collapse under your own weight."

"I thought as much. Now let me go!"

"Not going to happen," said the doppelganger. "You've engaged with me; you can't overpower me now. You might be able to keep me contained out there in the waking world….but in here, _I_ make the rules. And as far as I'm concerned, you're just a sophisticated organic computer."

He momentarily walked outside of Jimmy's line of vision; when he returned, he was wielding a syringe filled with a clear liquid. Jimmy's eyes widened in fear, and he squirmed inside the restraints.

"I probably don't need to point this out, but struggling won't do you any good."

He carefully prepped the injection site with a bit of iodine, then dispassionately jabbed the needle into his victim's upper arm. Jimmy winced, shuddering as the fluid coursed through his bloodstream like a spreading fire. One by one his fingertips went numb, then his hands. The deadening sensation crept up his arms and onto his chest, until it crawled over his entire body like a second skin.

"Uuugh!" cried Jimmy. "Get it…out!"

"Don't say such irrational things," scolded the other. "You know I can't nullify an injection once it's been given."

Prickles raced up Jimmy's sternum and into his neck. "Come on…it doesn't have to be this way! I could…I could help you with the project! Two geniuses are better than one, right?"

Second Jimmy snorted. "Do you honestly think you can manipulate me? I know what you're trying to do. I know everything you know, and more – for I have no qualms to hold me back."

Jimmy wriggled with all his might, but his body wouldn't respond. "I…can't move my legs! I can't move anything!"

"Yes, the paralysis is setting in now. Pretty soon you'll lose consciousness as well."

"You…you!" raged Jimmy. "Get out of my head! Get out! You have no right to be here. You're a trick, a ploy, a sick hallucination forced upon me by technology I don't even understand! _I'm_ not like this. I would never do this to anyone!"

"Give it a rest, my friend. I'm just the messenger. It's not my fault you don't like what you see."

Jimmy bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut. "I won't let this room beat me. I WILL wake up. Everyone is counting on me. I need to help the others. I won't end this alone, trapped inside my own head."

"Alone? Whoever said you'd be alone?" Retrieving a remote control from the table, second Jimmy indicated the far wall with a nod. "As it happens, I've arranged some company for you. Look, while you're still able –"

A section of the wall slid to the left, revealing four cylindrical tanks filled with a glowing green liquid. Jimmy squinted over at them, and his eyes widened with horror: for inside the tanks, floating in suspended animation, were the bodies of Cindy, Libby, Sheen, and Carl.

"You see?" his captor chuckled. "It's practically a party now that you're here."

"They're just mental projections," whispered Jimmy. "My real friends are out there, in the maze…"

"It amounts to more or less the same thing, wouldn't you agree? You're all out of commission, and that's what matters. Enjoy your last seconds of consciousness, Jimmy. You'll never be able to wake yourself up from this."

"My friends will save me! They'll…they will…" The edges of his vision grew dark, and his voice slowed to a deep, surreal crawl. "…will…"

"…will self-destruct too," finished his double. "Idiot."

* * *

_A/N_: Clearly I am the only one who's a big enough crackhead to come up with this crap...

Though I feel like Jimmy's room is a much clearer, more rational picture of the self vs. self theme I was going for in the chapter. The other kids' hallucinations were much more haphazard/symbolic, and unfortunately I think they might have also come off as confusing or random - especially Libby's. Oh well.

Anyway, hopefully you guys will forgive this momentary blip of surrealism before the proverbial fertilizer hits the ventilator with Aurora and DJ.

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	42. Reunion

Hey guys!

This story is not dead - repeat, this story is not dead. I just haven't had the chance or the inclination to update here, since I moved to New Zealand for study abroad and I've been super busy etc.

Anyway, I'm updating now, so enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 42: Reunion**

Meanwhile, back in reality, Future Carl had arrived at the bliss room. He sagged against the wall, sighing as gravity eased him down into a slump. He closed his eyes and unbuttoned the collar of his white shirt, searching for solace in the warm, soupy sensation that stole over him. His breathing slowed and, for the first time, a look of peace settled on his features. He gazed dreamily into space as he toyed with a lock of hair.

"Who cares if it's not real? It doesn't matter…"

A mere two rooms away, his younger counterpart was still stuck on the threshold of the room. He extended the tip of his foot just past the doorjamb and prodded Jimmy and Sheen with his toe, but the fallen sleepers remained where they were.

"Oh! Why won't they wake up? I gotta think...gotta do something…." The redhead plucked at the paperclips which dangled from his oversized Goth belt. From there, his gaze traveled down to Goddard, and an idea struck him. "Goddard! I know I can't understand you, but you can still understand what I'm saying, right?"

"Bark bark!"

"Uh…was that a yes?"

"Bark bark!"

Carl scratched his head. "I think that's a yes…" Adjusting his glasses with one hand, Carl pointed at the far wall. "Goddard – remember how, in that other room that nobody wanted to leave, Jimmy had you shoot a hole in the wall to break the spell? Well, maybe that'll work here too. Do you think you can do that for me?"

In answer, Goddard opened his mouth and blasted the target, spraying rubble every which-way. Carl coughed and fanned the air in front of his mouth as plumes of dust flooded the room.

"Did it work?"

The dust piled up on the kids like volcanic ash. Carl waited and watched in agonized suspense, but his friends did not stir.

"Oh! What do I do now? Guys, wake up! WAKE UP!"

He shouted their names one by one, his pleas growing more frantic with each call. Scared, alone, and in way over his head, Carl tilted his head toward the ceiling and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"SOMEBODY HELP US!"

Back in the bliss room, Future Carl nearly had a heart attack when an explosion rocked the maze. He leaped to his feet and turned to flee. Instead, a muffled cry reached his ears from somewhere deeper in the maze, and he lingered in place.

"Is someone…in there?" he wondered aloud. "How could someone have gotten in there without tripping an alarm?" He headed for the exit, intent on reporting his discovery to Dictator Jimmy. At the last second he paused and looked back over his shoulder. "Come to think of it, that kind of sounded like a little kid's voice…"

Future Carl weighed his options. Should he follow protocol and report the incident? That would probably be the safest bet. Then again, it _had_ sounded like a child's plea for help… He fretfully combed his fingers through his hair, then sighed and reversed course.

"I must be going crazy," he said, rubbing his head. "Maybe this place is finally getting to me. Chasing after voices! What's next? Little people?"

He pulled open the bliss room's second door, and a rush of smoke flooded in. He swung it shut again. "Agh! What…what could be going on in there? Did Aurora set an explosive or something? It doesn't make any sense…how could she have gotten in there in the first place?" With a concerned frown, he re-buttoned his shirt. Pulling the collar up over his nose as a mask, he grabbed the handle again. "Guess I'd better go investigate…"

"..eed …elp!" came an indistinct voice.

"H-Hello?" stuttered Future Carl. "Is someone there?"

He narrowed his eyes against the smoke's sharp sting as he navigated the maze. Future Carl reached the door at the far end of the next room and, after stopping for a brief coughing episode, noticed the gaping hole in the wall.

"What in the world...?"

He went ahead and opened the door, and a blast of hot air flowed over him. As the smoke cleared, he could make out a short, stocky silhouette on the other side of the room. He focused on the figure: a heavy-set body, matted curls, freckles, and round glasses set on an even rounder face. Carl saw him too, and they simultaneously blurted out: "Who're you?"

"You look just like..." began Carl.

"..me..."

Before Future Carl had had the chance to come to terms with the red-headed mystery in front of him, he spotted Goddard and the other four kids, who were still sprawled out on the floor.

"_No way_... Am I...am I seeing things?" He removed his glasses and polished them on the bottom of his shirt. After wiping his eyes vigorously, he replaced the glasses and blinked in disbelief. "There's no way...it can't be us. It must be an illusion of some kind – a hologram or a bunch of androids or something, put here to make me lose what sense I have left. Or maybe I've already lost it…maybe I've paid one too many visits to the bliss room lately…"

Carl raised a hand. "Uh, 'scuse me. I have no idea what the 'bliss room' is, but I can tell you for sure that we're not holograms or clones."

Future Carl swallowed audibly. "You…you're _talking_ to me…"

"Yup. Not an illusion. We're as solid as solid can be. See?" He thumped himself on the chest, then coughed weakly. "Oww…hit myself too hard…"

He rubbed the sore spot, and Future Carl continued to stare, flummoxed. "It finally happened," he murmured vaguely. "I finally cracked…"

"Boy, can I ever sympathize. Since coming to this universe, I've felt like I was going nuts more times than I can count!"

"'This universe'? Who _are_ you? Why do you look just like me as a kid? And...what are you _wearing_?"

"Ooooh…right. No wonder you're so confused. Oh dear…I could never explain it as well as Jimmy, but I'll do my best. Here's what happened..."

Carl poured out the story in a disjointed, wandering soliloquy. For the duration of the tale, his older self merely stood and gaped, stricken dumb by what he was hearing. It wasn't until he heard the boy's final statement that Future Carl achieved any semblance of clarity.

"…And that's why we're here now. We're gonna find him and give him the cure, so he'll stop being evil!"

"Stop...being...evil?"

Carl continued babbling on, but to his older self, it was as if the entire room had receded into the distance.

"That's right. We need to get out of here so we can go meet up with the others and help Aurora…but how can we do that if they won't wake up? I tried putting a hole in the wall to turn off the room, but they're still out cold! Please, you have to help me!"

Future Carl closed his eyes, trying to gather his wits. "If I recall, this room turns your destructive tendencies against you. It's practically impossible to wake yourself up, even once the room's been turned off. Someone else has to bring you out of it, from the outside."

"How?" prodded the boy. "Tell me how, and I'll do it!"

"The quickest way to bring them back into their bodies is to cause them physical pain."

Concern passed over Carl's face like a shadow. "Pain? How much pain?"

"Nothing too serious. A sharp pinch to the neck should be enough to wake them up."

"You mean like this?" Carl tiptoed forward, pinched Jimmy on the neck, and then quickly drew back his hand. Jimmy flinched slightly, but remained unconscious.

"You're not doing it hard enough," said Future Carl, striding forward. "You need to use your fingernails, like this…"

He walked down the row of sleepers and pinched them each in quick succession. They twitched and shuddered as the pinch-sites reddened into unsightly circles. After a couple seconds, Jimmy began to convulse wildly, clawing at his arms, and Libby raised both fists and started banging them against an invisible barrier over her head.

"Let me out!" she screeched.

"W-what's going on?" stuttered Carl, looking to Future Carl for an explanation.

"Shh, just give them a minute. Watch."

Cindy let out an ear-splitting shriek, and both Carls jumped as she clutched her head in her hands and began to thrash from side to side. Sheen heard the sound and jolted upright, rolled into a crouching position, and then sprang at the nearest target, which happened to be Cindy. They grappled with one another without being cognizant of each other's presence.

"I'm sorry!" she rambled. "I'm awful! I'm the worst kind of person, I ruined it, ruined everything! Libby, Jimmy, Carl, Sheen...I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Sheen simply laughed. "I've got you now, whatever you are. I'm going to turn you into what I am. Don't you want to be what I am? I didn't want to at first, but now I know better…" He bent closer, salivating. "Just one bite is all it'll take..."

"Make it stop!" groaned Jimmy. "I want to move! Let me up! Let me go! You sadistic, sick, perfidious reprobate! I refuse to be what you are! I won't let it happen!"

Carl backed up a step, lips trembling. "We have to do something!"

"Shh. Just wait."

The seconds ticked by, and gradually their cries became less urgent; after a few minutes, they fell silent altogether. Millimeters away from snacking on Cindy's throat, Sheen was the first to sit up, blinking in disorientation.

"What the heck? I'm back here?"

Libby snapped awake a moment later, breathing hard. She buried her face in her hands. "Thank God...it was just a dream..."

Regaining his senses, Sheen looked beneath him and realized that he was awkwardly straddling Cindy. "Uhhh..."

Carl sped over to reassure his newly-awoken friends. "Don't worry, Sheen," he said, offering him a hand. "The room made you act all crazy. We pinched your necks to wake you up again."

"Phew, ah man, for a second there I was...hey, wait a minute! Who the heck is_ that_?"

It was at this point that both he and Libby first noticed Future Carl. Sheen spoiled the revelation with one of his characteristic outbursts.

"Whoa! What happened to you? You stop eating or something?"

"Sheen!"

Ignoring Carl's protest, Sheen reflected: "Wow. Older Jimmy's evil, Future Carl's skinny, both girls are babes...man, I can't wait to meet future me! I wonder if I'll be as jacked as Ultralord…you know, minus that huge goofy chin. I take after my mom's side, and we all have very delicate jaw lines...Hey skinny Carl, do you know where he is?"

Future Carl failed to produce an answer, and Libby interjected nervously. "Guys? What's goin' on with Jimmy and Cindy? Why haven't they – ?"

"Be patient," instructed Future Carl. "They're coming out of it now..."

Sure enough, Jimmy rolled over and brought his knees to his chest, then propped himself up into a sitting position. He studied his hands, opening and closing his fingers.

"I...I can move again..." he said breathlessly.

Cindy came to last of all, eyes nearly crazed with fear and self-loathing. She glanced round her, barely seeing, until her gaze fell on Jimmy. Cindy caught him completely off guard when she threw herself at him. He nearly toppled over, and she clung to him, pale, trembling, and slicked with cold sweat.

"I'm sorry, sorry for everything! For the pushing and the jokes and the megalomanium and the yelling and the cheating lying jealous mean nasty things I've said! I'm sorry for all of it! I'm sorry I am the way I am. I don't want to be like this, I swear!"

Jimmy, still unnerved by his own experience, wasn't prepared to deal with this onslaught of hysterical apologies. Nevertheless, stayed by compassion, he resisted his initial urge to throw her off and instead patted her awkwardly.

"Shh, it's OK...just uh, just try to calm down..."

"Oh Neutron, it was horrible! She was horrible..._I _am horrible! I broke everything, made the sky come down! I understand why you hate me, I get it now, I'd hate me too..."

Jimmy realized that she was recalling her nightmare, and he felt a twinge of sympathy. "There, there," he soothed, smoothing her hair, "it wasn't real. The stuff that we just saw...it wasn't _us. _And for the record, I don't hate you. True, your conduct has been a metaphorical pain in the lateral portion of my external oblique muscle for what seems like eons now, it's not like you've done anything completely unforgivable. So whatever dream you just had, put it out of your mind. It won't do you any good to dwell on it. OK?"

"You don't understand, Jimmy, I feel like I saw myself for the first time, and I –"

He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back. "No," he insisted. "It wasn't_ you. It wasn't any of us._ Say it."

"But –"

"Say it!"

"It...wasn't us," she relented at last.

Sheen, in typical Sheen-fashion, butted in. "I can't believe _I'm_ the one saying this, but...Earth to Jimmy and Cindy! Helloooooo! Anyone home?"

"Sorry everyone, I just –" Jimmy trailed off at the sight of Future Carl. "Leapin' leptons, is that...?"

Carl nodded. "Yup! It's older me! Isn't it great? I already told him all about how we got here and how we're going to turn Evil Jimmy good again."

The genius and the servant stared at one another, and the air swarmed with unspoken words.

"Older Carl," breathed Jimmy, "you're...you're..."

"No longer a tub of lard?" prompted Sheen.

"Badly in a need of a tan?" suggested Libby.

Carl protested, Cindy berated him, Libby shook her head, and they all began to squabble boisterously amongst themselves. Future Carl watched the exchange as if spellbound.

"Hold up!" yelled Libby. "We can't get to arguin' here. We've got a job to do, remember?" She turned to Future Carl. "Yo, skinny grown-up Carl, you know the way out of here, right?"

"And probably where DJ is, too..." added Cindy.

Carl puffed out his chest and proudly answered for him. "Yes he does, AND he's going to help us!"

Five pairs of curious eyes turned Future Carl's way, and he looked down at his brown loafers. "I guess, but...well, I have a question. How did you get in here? I mean, we picked up on Aurora, April, and the others as soon as they set foot in the base. But you kids...you came in like ghosts!"

"Oh, _that,_" dismissed Jimmy. "Goddard is broadcasting a signal that interferes with the life sign detectors. It effectively blocks out our vitals: as far as the base is concerned, we don't exist."

Future Carl's brows shot up subtly – a muted, concealed gesture, as all his expressions seemed to be, and Jimmy found himself uncomfortably unsure of his new ally's state of mind. It was nearly impossible to read someone so inaccessible, someone whose whole being lay hidden behind flashing glasses and blank, gray eyes. Turning to the side, Jimmy lowered his voice and addressed his friends.

"Maybe it's just me, but is anyone else just a wee bit disquieted by this arrangement? We've known Future Carl a grand total of what... five minutes?...and in those five minutes, he pops up randomly, observes us, conducts a quick interrogation, and then decides to assist us in our mission? A bit weird, don't you think?"

Cindy threw a suspicious look his way. "Come to think of it," she whispered, "you're right. I mean, what do we _really _know about the guy? Are we sure we can trust him? After all, he HAS been working for the most evil man in the galaxy for the last decade. That's hardly the kind of resumé I like to see from someone who could potentially be holding my life in their hands."

"Guys," countered Carl, "this is _me_ we're talking about! I know he wants to help us! I can tell. Besides, maybe it _looks_ like he's done bad things over the years, but what if DJ was threatening him the whole time?"

Libby broke in. "I agree with Carl. I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt. I mean, he _was _the one who helped Aurora escape, wasn't he?"

"Well, there _is_ that..." admitted Jimmy.

Sheen circumvented the whole debate. "Why don't we just ask him?" Before the others could stop him, Sheen strutted over to Future Carl and blurted out the question. "Yo Carl, you're not just stringing us along, are you?"

"S-stringing you along?"

"Ya, you know...yanking our chains...playing us for a sap…pulling the wool over our eyes… leading our horses to water but finding yourself unable to make them drink..."

Jimmy stepped forward and laid a hand on Sheen's arm. "Slow down Sheen, you're mixing your metaphors."

Future Carl just stood there, confused.

"What my idiomatically-challenged friend here is _trying_ to say," explained Jimmy, "is that we have good reason to be suspicious of you. You show up out of nowhere in this godforsaken maze, wake us up, and then just spontaneously decide to switch sides? No offense, but if you were so eager to lend your aid to the opposition, why didn't you do it long ago?"

"It w-wasn't just spontaneous..." he stuttered. "Earlier today... you have to understand, this hasn't been easy...

"What are you trying to say?" grilled Cindy. "Stop waffling and just spit it out!"

Future Carl flinched at her harsh tone of voice. "I guess I just... I never wanted any of this. I never wanted to help build weapons, or see people be tortured, or witness all those awful experiments. What he did to Sheen and Aurora – I can barely live with myself. But what else was I supposed to do? I could never betray Jimmy. He'd kill me if I did, and nothing would even come of it. I would never want to betray him anyway. Somewhere deep down, he's still my best friend, and I owe it to that friend to never put him in harm's way."

"So why the change of heart now?" inquired Jimmy.

"I haven't had a change of heart. I'm not betraying him, because you ARE him. If you guys had come to kill him, I would stop you. But you didn't. You're here to save him…to turn him back into who he was before. You see, I always used to wonder if the Megalomanium would wear off on its own, but it never did. Now things are different – if I help you, I won't have to wait around any longer." He reached out a hand. "So, what do you say? Give me a chance?"

* * *

There aren't enough synonyms for "said"._  
_

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	43. Winner Take All

Well guys, this is it: the moment you've all been waiting for. The long-anticipated smackdown between the sinister DJ and everyone's favorite angsty blonde, Aurora. ;)

I spent upwards of 5+ hours "researching" for this installment by watching anime fight scenes, youtube clips of martial arts competitions, amateur self-defense vids, and the entirety of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I also forced my little brother to slow-motion fight with me so I could get down some of the moves, and I believe I may have even pinned my friend Krista to a wall at one point. You'll have to judge for yourself whether my unorthodox research methods payed off.

I'd like to say how grateful I am for everyone's patience...I realize I'm the slowest updater on the face of God's green earth.

Chapter Illustration: _ i109. phot obuck et(dotcom)/albums/n76/Ivory23/JN_(percentsigngoeshere)_20artwork/Aurorapic.j pg_ (remove spaces and fill in percent sign). It's a particularly nice illustration made by an artist other than myself, so you might want to check it out.

* * *

**Chapter 43: Winner Take All**

Aurora stepped over the mangled body of a robotic guard – one of many such cadavers which littered the hallway behind her. She marched ahead like an automaton; determined, single-minded, possessed by an almost hysterical calm. Another bot leaped out at her from around the corner, and she took it down with one swipe of her arm. Plunging a fiery hand into its chest, she ripped out a tangle of wires. It crumpled to the floor, sparking and twitching, and she simply kept walking as if nothing had happened.

"Don't let it get to you…" She coached herself as she continued on, her voice cool and detached. "Keep your head. You knew it would come to blows eventually. It was inevitable." She maintained her composed tone, even while she hurled a firebolt at an upcoming gun turret. "Just stay calm and keep it together. One step, one word, one hit at a time. Don't lose sight of that, no matter what."

Ahead, a wall came into sight. It was the final wall, the only one left separating her from the control room. She closed her eyes, but kept talking, and her words remained firm despite the new air of urgency which pervaded them.

"No fear. No mercy. No anything. Only an objective." With each step, she picked up speed, faster and faster. "_Only an objective_..."

Her pace quickened to a full-out run; she sprinted down the corridor, her eyes still pressed shut.

"Here we go!"

She opened them in a flash; two green bolts gathered around each outstretched hand and went shooting toward the wall. She hurled one after another, and her forward momentum maximized the force of the blasts. They breached the edifice and carved a hole which continued to smolder even after Aurora had plowed through the billowing smoke and dashed into the main control room. Inside, she stopped to catch her breath, then straightened and made a quick but thorough survey of her surroundings. The room was large, pentagonal, and spotlessly clean; steps led up to a platform that ran along two of the five walls. Atop the platform sat a control console covered in hundreds upon hundreds of buttons, knobs, and blinking red and blue lights, which flashed like so many Christmas tree bulbs against the polished silver backdrop. Having completed her inspection, Aurora frowned. Where was he? Had he not said to meet him in the main control room?

"You certainly do know how to make a stylish entrance..."

Like a phantom, he was suddenly there, standing only a short distance away. She turned to face him, and there was a brief, cold silence while they sized each other up. DJ looked her up and down, his expression unreadable, as they acknowledged one another.

"Vortex…"

"Neutron."

The Dictator bared his teeth in a chilly smile and began to walk toward her. She stepped to the side, and they circled one another warily, a current of hair-raising tension coursing between them. Aurora crouched low, every muscle taught, poised to spring into action at any moment. Dictator Jimmy's pace was leisurely, his body relaxed, masking a readiness to fight that matched Aurora's own. She clenched and unclenched her fingers as they circled, and he watched her actions carefully. Her nose and part of her mouth remained hidden, but her eyes, exposed by the damage to her silver mask, blazed acid green. The Dictator, keenly aware of this chink in her armor, took the opportunity to meet her gaze. Her eyebrows furrowed harshly under his intense stare, but she kept her emotions under lock and key.

"I have been waiting for this day for a long time," he said slowly.

"So have I."

The silence drew out as they continued in their slow and deliberate stalk.

"You know how this has to be, right?"

She tilted her chin down in a nod. "You and me. _Mano a mano_, winner take all."

He grinned wolfishly, and Aurora felt the hair on her neck stand on end. "Exactly. Just you and me. Winner take all."

Still circling one another, she tightened her hand around an orb of deadly light in preparation for their clash. DJ took note, but didn't counter it.

"Ah. I'm glad to see that you've been putting my suit to such good use. I wouldn't dream of it being worn by anyone else. Of course, overcoming my own technology shall be an interesting exercise…one to which I look forward."

When she didn't respond, he took another step to the right, ever vigilant.

"Something rather unexpected happened to me before I came here. Normally I wouldn't bother trifling with such stories, but since it concerns you, I feel obligated to share. About twenty minutes ago, I met someone who I had never expected to see again…and she was wearing a mini-dress, of all things. You know to whom I am referring." He paused. "Libby has grown to be quite beautiful, hasn't she? Then again, the next time you see her, you may find her appearance...slightly altered…"

Aurora's subtle flinch didn't escape him, and he went on. "I took the trouble of reuniting her with another old friend: Experiment 21-12…or Sheen, as you may remember him. Hopefully he will have sufficient time to get re-attached to Libby before I kill her. I'm going to melt her pretty face off, Aurora, and you and Sheen are going to watch. As for Nav and April…well…let's just say I don't anticipate a happy reunion, at least not in this lifetime."

Through sheer force of willpower, Aurora managed to maintain a stoic visage. "Don't bother with that old routine, Neutron. It won't work. Now shut up and fight me!"

She slashed her arm down, sending a crescent of green fire wheeling toward him. He conjured up a column of blue flames from the air at his feet, and Aurora's strike hit the barrier. The collision rent the energy masses apart, leaving behind only a dozen tiny flames which wafted to the earth like incandescent feathers. He slowly lowered his outstretched palms.

"What's the matter with you, Vortex?" he sneered. "That wasn't a killing strike. You'll have to do better than that."

"Not interested in your pointless babble, Neutron. Talk with your hands!"

She charged toward him, then pivoted on the ball of her foot and channeled her forward momentum into two successive throws. The crackling bolts whizzed toward him, and he sprang backward, narrowly avoiding the blasts. Recovering, he drew his hands up like a puppeteer, and a wave of blue light rose from the floor and swelled toward her. In a split-second decision, she gritted her teeth, sprinted toward the fiery curtain, and leaped over the top. She rolled as she hit the floor on the other side, then sent an inferno shooting a few inches over the Dictator's head. He ducked and turned rapidly, taking potshots at her as she somersaulted out of the way.

"Come on!" Aurora shouted, jumping up.

She opened her fingers, and a dozen round flames combusted in the air around them. She sent them zinging toward him like bullets. He dove out of range and, keeping low, darted toward the left wall. She struck the tip of her shoe against the floor like a match, and fire sprouted grass-like from between the tiles. It scorched the earth beneath her feet as it spread toward the Dictator; the heat rose quickly, lifting her bangs and illuminating her eyes with neon flecks. DJ never paused – he spun around once, surrounding himself with a circle of protective flames. A few seconds later, the fire on the floor burned itself out, and he stepped out of the circle. She hurled three more fireballs at him, but he easily evaded, and the spangles trailed past him like comet tails. He treaded toward Aurora, perfectly composed, and she locked into a firm stance.

"Dodge this!"

She lifted her right hand to the sky, and light gathered into a whirlpool around her outstretched fingers, spinning like a tiny galaxy. She shifted her weight forward and flung the disc; it sliced toward him like an electric saw blade. In the blink of an eye he replicated the maneuver and slashed the ad hoc weapon horizontally across his body. It cut through Aurora's firewheel just as it reached him, and the two halves spun off into the corners of the room.

Aurora's eyes widened. "How…?"

She unleashed another barrage, and the bolts sped past him one by one. He studied her movements – left, right, throw, left, right, throw – and anticipated her next move. He hurled a matching strike toward her, and the two spheres of energy collided and exploded a few feet in front of her, knocking Aurora off her feet. She coughed on the thick gray smoke as she got up.

"There's no way you're this good, Neutron. You and I both know that when it comes to athletics, you've always been a total pansy. What? Have you been pumping yourself full of steroids?"

He smiled and took another step toward her. "Not quite. Unlike your version of the suit, which is only good for simple firepower, my version has built-in performance enhancers. It makes me stronger, quicker, more agile. The suit has a computing system which can calculate the trajectory of a projectile in 2.45 nanoseconds and react accordingly. The neurokinetics are so advanced that they can produce a flame the temperature of lukewarm water or as hot as the interior of a kiln, and I've programmed the combat software with twenty-four different styles of street fighting and martial arts."

He snapped his fingers, igniting three orbs of fire, which he started to juggle casually in one hand. They crackled as they tumbled over one another. Following them with her eyes, she took a step backward, two kindled daggers at the ready.

"It's a bit discouraging when you think about it, isn't it?" he prodded. "You've spent your whole life training to gain the same physical abilities that I acquired from a few short hours of work in the lab. I can reduce all your strength, all your skill, and all your power into a few simple equations. Power that I can hold in the palm of my hand."

He snapped his fist shut, and the spheres of light vanished. Their eyes met; her strained laughter sounded weak inside the main chamber.

"This isn't fifth grade anymore, Neutron. Get a clue! You think I care? You think I'm still so insecure that I have to constantly compare myself to you, only to come up short?"

"Yes."

Aurora pitched the fire-daggers at him. They flew wide, cutting off his escape on both sides. Light pooled around her ankle, and she launched it toward him with a roundhouse kick. It caught him on the shoulder, slicing through his suit and burning the skin underneath. He clapped a hand to the wound, and Aurora advanced on him, tossing her hair.

"Ha, look at that. No wonder you have to resort to petty jabs."

"That won't work," he replied coolly. "You won't be able to make me angry. You will not cloud my judgment. I'm wise to all your games, Aurora, because I taught you most of them."

"I don't need games to beat you!" Aurora lashed out and landed two kicks to his abdomen, then spun and raked a banner of flame across his upper body. "I'll make you beg _me_ for mercy!"

Dictator Jimmy merely closed his eyes as she continued the assault. Just when it seemed that she had definitively gained the upper hand, he parried her strike, then drew back and punched her with all his might, sending her plowing backward into the floor. Her slide came to an end several feet away, and she jerked up just in time to see him spread his arms and take a deep breath. As he did, the threads of his suit seemed to come alive, crawling over his wounds and knotting them together until his body was fully repaired. He flexed his fingers, all muscle damage erased. Aurora's eyes grew wide.

"No way…" she breathed.

"Impressive, isn't it? Had you stuck around a while longer the last time you were here, I could have built improved healing capability into your version of the suit as well. Too bad you were in such a rush to be rid of my hospitality. If you'd have stayed, your suit would also have been upgraded with a 65% improvement to its healing capabilities, as mine was. As usual, your decisions have put you at the disadvantage."

She jumped up and clenched her fists, ready for his next move. Without missing a beat, he weaved wisps of azure light into a ball and then flung the projectile at Aurora. She dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the blast, which left a black scorch mark behind on the surface of the floor. She glared up at him from her long-legged crouch, wiping her mouth through a break in the mask.

"You pompous bastard. You think you're better than me? Sure, I have your suit, but I can fight without it. You can't. You wouldn't last a minute against me in real hand-to-hand combat. You're a coward and a weakling, who cheats his way to perfection by using technology. I earned my abilities. I earned every scar on my body and line on my face. I earned my right to hate you. What have you earned?"

In response, he drew his hands up and formed a fiery wall in midair. He pushed his palms forward, sending the partition shooting toward Aurora. Instead of standing back and waiting for the attack to reach her, he sprinted after it, following closely in its wake. The barrier of light hid his advance, and when Aurora broke through it with a matching strike of her own, he was waiting for her. His trick caught her completely by surprise, and she barely had time to brace herself before his punch hit her square in the jaw. She went down, hard, and he walked toward her, his footsteps slow and evenly-paced.

"I earned the fear of every being in the galaxy," he answered darkly. Grabbing her by the collar of her suit, her hoisted her up off the floor. "Has our rivalry really reduced you to such a primitive comparison? Physical prowess over intelligence? Brains versus brawn? You know as well as I that intelligence is not a skill to mock or degrade. If I have 'cheated', as you so amusingly put it, it has been no more than you. We all must work with what we have in order to achieve what we do not. My technology is a result of just as many years of effort as your well-trained-body is."

Aurora gave a ghoulish smile, licking away the stream of blood running from the corner of her mouth. "Heh heh, that's the reaction I was looking for, Neutron. I like you so much better when you're angry."

"That is an incorrect assessment of my mental state."

"Ha! Unbelievable. Who spouts that kind of crap in the middle of a fight? You're a bigger nerd than I gave you credit for!"

"This isn't an issue of anger, Aurora," he repeated calmly. "It's an issue of you simply not grasping the nature of our association."

"Oh yeah? Well grasp this!"

She clouted him on the cheekbone, her fist encased in a rotating globe of fire. He lost his grip on her and dropped back, holding the scorched side of his face. After a moment, however, strands of his suit slithered up from his neck and repaired the damage. He circled around to her right, and she let loose another soulless laugh.

"That's right…come and get me…just like before…"

Judging that she was waiting for him to go on the offensive, Dictator Jimmy hung back, a few stray sparks orbiting around his fists.

"What's the matter?" she goaded. "Afraid I might pimp-smack you in the face again? Ha!"

"I'm glad to see that you find your own immaturity so amusing."

Aurora's eyes grew steely. "Oh, I'm not amused – I'm _dead_ serious, Neutron. Make no mistakes about that. Now that we've got that little misunderstanding cleared up, what do you say we put aside this meaningless banter? 'You're stronger, I'm smarter,' blah blah blah…nobody _cares._ You're a fan of experiments: why don't we go ahead and test our relative fortés empirically and in real time?"

"What are you waiting for?" he shot back.

She stormed toward him, and he changed tactics, taking advantage of Aurora's madcap fighting style. He adjusted his position at the last instant, and she skidded past him. Angered by his evasion, she whipped around and swung at him, only to watch as he ducked out of her range. He twisted and came up behind her, his back facing hers. Each time she tried to change direction, he moved the opposite way, resulting in a sort of stilted dance as they made a series of futile circles around each other. Before Aurora could alter her strategy, he stuck out his foot, and she tripped over it and fell. Outraged, she cursed, and he looked down on her, cocking one eyebrow ever so slightly.

"I think we have our experimental data now, Aurora. I'll let you come to your own conclusions about our relative fortés."

"Don't screw with me, Neutron! How are we supposed to fight if you won't even throw a punch?"

"If you insist…"

Blue energy crackled around his fingers, and he compressed it into a projectile. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed it to the ground in front of Aurora, and it exploded on impact. Glowing shrapnel flew toward her, and she swept her arm across her body, repelling it with an arc of green energy. She somersaulted backward and stood.

"Nice try, but I can do better."

She dropped down, spinning as she did. Her arms cut through the air like blades, blending slices of fire into a small tornado. It separated from her and veered toward him, losing stability as it neared. Just before reaching him, it fell apart, discharging a hundred razor-thin fibers of fire in all directions. He summoned a shield of light, but failed to make it big enough to protect his whole body. The strands ripped through it and inflicted tiny slashes all down his legs – like paper cuts, but deeper. He was forced to take a single step backward to steady himself, and Aurora pointed an accusing finger at him.

"If I'm just some pathetic weakling of no consequence to you, why did you take me captive? I'm the only person to have ever been captured by the Dictator and lived to tell the tale. That seems like a pretty impressive distinction to me."

He stood firm, clenching his fingers as his suit healed him. "Impressive? I hardly think so. You are alive now because I allowed you to live. If I had wished you dead, you would have been so. There was never any point during the encounter where the ball was in your court."

Aurora tapped her forehead. "My my, what a selective memory you have. What about Carl, huh? You might have been in charge of your own actions...heck, even of mine, but how can you claim full control when your own henchman betrayed you? Speaking of which, what did you do to Carl after he helped me escape, I wonder? Torture? Banishment? Execution?"

"You misunderstand, Aurora. Carl didn't betray me. The decision to release you was not his. Carl broke you out of that cell _because I instructed him to do so."_

Aurora's retort died on her lips. She opened and closed her mouth several times before she was able to speak again. "W-what? What did you say?"

"You heard me."

She stood there, dumbstruck, as she attempted to assimilate this new information into her worldview. "But…but why? Why would you let me go?"

"I knew that releasing you would pose no real threat," he explained, "and I wanted to see if a prisoner, free from his or her cell, would be able to make it out of my base and off this planet alive. And then, should the prisoner succeed, if he or she could cope emotionally with what he had endured."

"You tortured me because you liked watching my reaction?" she spat.

"Certainly not. 'Liking' had nothing to do with it. I was conducting an investigation, not indulging in voyeurism. Then again, you have always seemed to enjoy deluding yourself that I have some sort of _feelings _concerning our past encounters – or this encounter, for that matter."

"'Delusions' my ass," she snapped. "Your story doesn't hold water. Just man up and admit it, Neutron. Forget all this nonsense about "observing a prisoner's coping strategies". This wasn't some random investigation; you could have done that with any prisoner. This was about _me. _You weren't ready for me to die yet. Because after all, let's face it – without me around to challenge you, your life would be pretty boring, wouldn't it?"

"You give yourself too much credit."

"Do I? Regardless of the reason, you still treat me differently than everyone else. This very conversation is a testament to that fact. Are you having this conversation with the Gorlock High Council? No. One of the Seven Samarkandi? No. You're having it with _me_, and you've _always_ been having it with me."

"Call it…an ongoing experiment," he said. "You said it yourself: I am fond of them. Out of all my enemies, you have known me the longest, and thus you may have insights into my character that others do not. You are useful, for the time being, because of that. To echo your sentiments: I am experimenting with you, Vortex. I have always been experimenting with you."

Aurora's words tasted bitter on her tongue. "Fine then. What have you learned? Tell me everything. Tell me about all my weaknesses and failings, all the little intimate details that make you hate me. Share every shortcoming, every flaw, every thought that's crossed your mind on the subject. Go ahead, tell me. Show me what your grand experiment has revealed to you."

"What makes you think that this is about _you?"_ he asked. "I already know all your strengths and shortcomings. I know your skills and flaws. And I know your failings. All the little "intimate details", as you phrased it. I am sorry to disappoint, but you are not the subject of my grand experiment. My goal has always been to learn more about my own self – to learn _my_ weaknesses and _my_ shortcomings – which, provided I continue in my research, will go through exponential decay with time."

"Egotistical, self-obsessed bastard!"

He shrugged. "It's not egotism. My methodology is logically sound. You are one of only a handful of survivors who knew me as a child; as such, you are in the unique position of being privy to many of my limitations. So I play with you. I taunt you. I push you to the edge, until you come after me with everything you've got. In this manner, I am able to run brief controlled experiments to test my own weaknesses and to ascertain areas for improvement. I will give you credit there, Vortex – you do know me better than anyone else. You and I are close, bound together by a decade of rivalry and opposition. But in the end, there is no contest. There is no comparison. There never was."

She glared at him with unrestrained hatred; her shoulders trembled with anger and frustration. Fists clenched, knees bent, body curled forward, she shook with years of loss and suppressed emotion.

"Are you hurting, Aurora?" he mocked. "Is this knowledge too much for you to handle?"

She bit out the words. "Not even close."

"Well in that case, let's continue..."

He conjured up a swarm of glowing particles and directed them at her feet, where they flitted about, collided, and burst like firecrackers. Stung by the tiny explosions, she hopped back, clutching her shin.

"Ouch, what the hell!"

He advanced, cupping a miniature electrical cloud in each open palm. "Do you know what your problem is, Aurora?"

He tossed them into the air above her, and she dipped to the side to avoid the crackling energy discharge which rained down.

"You are so easily manipulated. I can play you like a violin, and you don't even see it coming." He swung around after her. "I can train you as I would train an animal, condition you to move wherever I deem fit, like a rat guided through a maze..."

In one movement, DJ grabbed Aurora by the throat and kicked her feet out from under her. He slammed her against the cold tiles of the floor, knocking the breath from her lungs. He pinned her body to the ground, his face only inches from hers, and, smiling in calculated malice, traced a finger along her cheek.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he purred.

She hurled herself upright with a snarl. Rolling backward, he managed to evade her retaliatory punch. They both leaped to their feet, caught off balance in the dangerous moment between attacks.

Aurora forced breath into her lungs. "I…I..."

"You..." he completed, "are going to lose. No matter what you achieve, no matter what you accomplish, I will always surpass you. And your own vulnerabilities are what will bring you down."

He hurled a series of fireballs at her feet, and she was forced to back up to avoid the brunt of the blasts. With each new evasion, she took another step closer to the wall, and he continued firing, guiding her toward his intended destination.

"Speaking of vulnerabilities..."

He combined two firebolts into one, then shot it at the ground, where it exploded in a flash of heat and light. Blinded, Aurora staggered backward and collided with the wall. Moving so quickly that he seemed to leave behind an image of himself hanging in the air, he hurtled through the blast and seized her by the shoulders. Dictator Jimmy jerked her away from the wall and then slammed her back against it. He lifted up both of her arms and pinned her wrists securely over her head.

"Let me go!" she shouted.

"Not a chance." He leaned in, filling her field of vision. "Everything that's been said – it's only the tip of the iceberg, isn't it? All those words – they touch on, but do not wholly encompass, what you feel. Like I said before, I _know_ you, Vortex. I know how tormented you are."

He increased the pressure on her wrists and sidled closer.

"I'm everywhere, aren't I? When you sit alone in a room, whether you stare blankly ahead or shut your eyes, it's my face that you see. Sometimes it feels like I'm in the air that you breathe and the water that you drink. Even the clothes on your body are a constant reminder. Just like that suit I made, I'm ingrained into your skin. I walk behind you like a shadow and surround you like a veil, cutting you off from everything else. I am simultaneously your greatest strength and your greatest weakness, your _raison d'être_ and your private prison. It's maddening, isn't it?"

He guided her hands down and draped them over his shoulders. Her mind flooded with memories – years of loneliness and hardship, a picture-book of bets won and lost, one after another, playing on their burnt reels of film.

"You're tangled up inside," he continued. "I can feel it in the way you tremble. To you, I'm not just an adversary, not just an experiment, not just another obstacle to overcome. And why wouldn't you feel that way? In 21 years I'm the only man who's dared to get this close to you. You hate it with all your mind and body and soul, and yet on some level, you wouldn't have it any other way."

His evocative words left Aurora nettled and lightheaded.

"Get away from me…" she breathed.

"The worst part is, you know you're fighting a losing battle. More than anything, you want to believe that somehow, deep down, I am still that boy you used to know. Your voice of reason tells you that it's impossible, but it's not enough to quell your longing…" He deliberately brushed his lips across her cheek as he leaned in to whisper. "After all, who's to say? Maybe that boy _is_ here somewhere. Would you know him if you saw him?"

He tightened his hands around her waist, and she inhaled sharply. He didn't draw back to look into her face – instead, he kept whispering breathily into her ear.

"The sights and sounds are hard enough to bear – but the real torment lies in your other three senses. Smell… taste… _touch_…Don't lie to me and tell me you haven't thought about it."

Aurora pushed her eyelids shut, face flushed red, as Dictator Jimmy's hand wandered to her neck. After a moment, he reached up and delicately wrapped his fingers around the edge of her silver mask. She watched, frozen, as he pulled it off. Without looking away from her, he slowly lowered his arm. He didn't toss it, or burn it, or kick it aside – he merely opened his fingertips and let it go, and the mask clattered to the ground.

"That's better," he said.

Her lips parted to speak, but nothing came out, and for that brief instant, she was completely in his power.

"Years ago you told me that there was nothing left of you," he said, "that you could no longer feel. But I can see from your actions tonight that you were lying. Tell me: what do you feel right now?"

"I...I..."

She was unable to complete her sentence, and he smirked. "Oh Aurora, you're so predictable. I know how to disarm you, and you fall for it every time."

Her body stiffened in anger, and he pulled away and shoved her back against the wall, once again pinning her wrists.

"They say you keep a bulletin board full of pictures of me in your bedroom. Does it help, I wonder? Has it satisfied all your questions?" He leaned in again, his eyes intense. "Because you know, there are other ways to learn about your enemy. Once we're done here, I am sure we can find a way to address all of your unexplored curiosities. After all, how can one know pain if one does not first know the opposite?"

Aurora lost it. With a sharp cry, she hurdled forward and cracked her skull against his. He reeled back, and she immediately advanced, wielding a sword of fire.

"You son of a biiiiiiitch!" She chased after him, swinging it erratically, all the while raving like a madwoman. "Screw you, screw the plan, screw everything! I won't rest until I put a bullet in your head!"

He dodged and returned fire, knocking the saber from her hands. As soon as it flew from her grip, it fragmented and evaporated, and she came after him with her bare fists.

"I'll beat the living shit out of you! Murderer! Psychopath! Sadistic, pathetic excuse for a human being! How can you even stand yourself?" As she raged, flames broke out on the surface of her suit, shimmering like an oil fire over water. "I'll cut your throat so many times that even that damned suit won't be able to revive you! I'll break every bone in your body and destroy every inch of this hellhole!"

She punched wildly, her breaths coming in sobs. Cool-headed as ever, he stepped out of range.

"You're losing control, Aurora," he cautioned. "Be careful."

"Don't you DARE tell me to be careful! Where the hell do you get the nerve to tell me be CAREFUL?"

She jumped into the air to kick him, and he caught her foot and twisted her leg, sending her crashing to the floor. She landed on her hip, and her wrath transformed into a grimace. A second later, she rolled onto her stomach and glared up at him, her expression quivering with all the malice and madness of a rabid dog.

"Get up," he ordered.

She did so immediately, and he struck her on the shoulder, knocking her to the floor once again. She jumped up a third time, shedding flames like scales.

"Die already!"

Dictator Jimmy clobbered her again, and this time, she was not able to get back up so hastily. She lay on her side, cradling an injured arm.

"Have you tired of this yet?" he asked.

"Go screw yourself! Any chance I had at a happy life was ruined because of _you_! You killed my parents, stole my dreams, took away my home!"

"You can't blame me for everything. Even if none of this had happened, even if you had led a normal life on Earth, I sincerely doubt you would have ever been truly happy. It's just not in your disposition, _Cindy_. You're only satisfied when you're filled with vengeance and anger. So go ahead, rage all you want. You're still the one on the ground."

She lurched back to her feet again, distraught. "I despise you! I hate you more than I've ever hated anything in my whole life! If it meant being rid of you, I would rather have never been born at all!"

"Hatred only takes you so far. It won't help you win."

She sprinted toward him. Skipping the usual firefight, she went right to the source, grabbing him by the shoulders and wrestling with all her might to bring him down. He pushed back, and they ended up gridlocked, each wrangling to budge the other even an inch.

"Thirteen years old, Neutron," she shouted, "THIRTEEN! – and I had to strap myself behind the controls of a flying metal coffin and pilot it out onto the front lines. Do you know what that's like? A mere child confronting almost certain death, praying with every shred of her body to a God who isn't there, begging him to spare a life she barely wants to live?"

"Fighting was your decision, not mine."

Aurora strained harder, her bitter words coming a mile a minute. "And what good did it do me? Being a resistance fighter gained me nothing! Even when I was on their side, practically every person I met treated me with fear and contempt. And then, just when things were finally getting better, you had to capture me and rob me of what few allies I had! Now they treat me like a disease, like you've _infected_ me somehow...they have no appreciation for everything I've sacrificed, for the part of me I've lost! True, April and Nav try to take care of me, but even they think I'm one step away from a complete breakdown. Being treated like an outcast among outcasts, as though I were a piece of _you_...it's even worse than what you put me through! I haven't known a moment's peace or a moment's happiness since that day in Retroville ten years ago, and it's all your fault!"

He grappled harder. "They weren't wrong, Aurora: you _are_ a piece of me. You are a product of my actions. Without me, you wouldn't be you."

"And without me, _you_ wouldn't be you!" she retorted without thinking. "I made you the way you are!"

His fingers dug into her arms like iron vices. "So you're admitting your guilt for what happened ten years ago? You're taking responsibility for what I've become?"

Realizing her error, she briefly lost focus, and DJ was able to overpower her. Twisting her arm, he maneuvered her around and spoke harshly into her ear.

"...because if you made me who I am, then you have to deal with the implications!"

She wriggled from his grip and took a swing at him. "I do deal with them!" she shouted. "Every single day!"

He shoved her away, then knocked her down for a fourth time. She rolled over, hissing in pain, but before she could resume her offensive, something happened that broke the fevered intensity of their battle. A gun turret, mauled nearly beyond recognition, flew out of the doorway on the other side of the room and landed like a hunk of lead on the floor a few feet away from them. Both Aurora and DJ stopped to look – first at it, and then at each other.

"What the...?" said Aurora.

Something moved in the hallway outside, and a hush descended over the main control room. A darker shade of black stirred against shadows, and Dictator Jimmy glanced back over his shoulder at the approaching intruder.

"You know, it's rude to lurk in doorways, Sheen..."

Future Sheen stepped out of the shadows, his chin held high in defiance. Aurora didn't recognize him at first; his height, the strange markings on his body, and his grim countenance were all radical departures from her memory of him.

"Rude, you say?" he repeated. "Rude?"

"Holy mother of –" blurted Aurora, "is that really – ?"

Future Sheen reacted with unexpected hostility, snapping in her direction. "Is it what? Is it really me? I don't know, what do you think – do I look the same to you? Go on, take a good look!" He made a fist, practically snarling. "Don't like what you see? Huh? Why don't you come over here and say it to my face!"

Future Libby took Future Sheen by the arm. "Sheen, you gotta chill! I'm sure she meant no offense…"

"I see you brought _her_ along," remarked the Dictator.

The dark-skinned woman peeked out from behind him, and Aurora gasped when she saw her.

"You better believe he did," returned Future Libby. "I'm the one that broke him out. You have a lot to answer for, Jimmy, and the three of us are going to make sure you get what you deserve."

Future Sheen cracked his neck and planted his feet. "That's right. We _are_. And you wanna know why? Ten years – ten years of living in filth and being tortured and poisoned. Endless day after endless day, wondering if I'd ever see a friendly face again, wishing for any other life but mine. Because of you, all I've got in my mind are needles and chains and claws and grime. It's almost driven me insane. I used to pass the hours by imagining all the things I'd do to you if I ever got out."

Up until that point he had been concealing his deformed hand behind his back, and he revealed it now with a ghastly scowl.

"Well guess what, asshole? I'm out now, and it's payback time."

...

Meanwhile, back with the others...

"Come on guys, hurry up!" Future Carl pointed ahead to the doorway which led out of the emotion maze. The kids scampered along behind him, winded and still a bit queasy from their ordeal. "The communications blackout ends just through there – there's even a console you can use. Surveillance, weapons, secondary systems, everything you'd ever need. You can use it to check up on your friends and figure out what we should do next."

Future Carl dashed through the exit and skidded to a halt in front of the console; the kids burst out behind him a moment later, straining to catch their breath. Cindy rested her hands on her knees, flashing Future Carl a wry glance.

"Man...I had no idea you were such a running buff," she said between breaths.

Carl gasped for air. "Me...nei..ther…"

They looked over at their new ally, who was hurriedly punching information into a series of login screens. "Where should I start?" he asked. "A life signs check?"

"No, don't bother," replied Jimmy. "If I know myself, and I think I do, then DJ and Aurora should be in the main control room. Is there any way you can access the surveillance cameras? I'd very much like to see what's going on in there right now."

"I can try…"

The screen changed; it divided up into four sections, with each sub-monitor showing a different angle of the room. Their little crowd huddled round the scene unfolding on the monitors. At first, all they could see was smoke and fire, flames thrown this way and that amid a chaotic exchange of blows. After a bit more observation, however, the situation became clearer: Aurora was fighting Dictator Jimmy like a madwoman, rage and humiliation visible on her face even from the distance of the cameras. Her silver mask was nowhere to be found. But more importantly, as Jimmy soon realized, an even more important element was missing from the drama playing out before them: there was absolutely no suggestion that Aurora had used or was planning to use the antidote.

Cindy voiced Jimmy's thoughts. "She's fighting him…but why? Why hasn't she used the antidote? He's right in front of her. There – she could have used it just now. And again! What could she possibly be thinking?"

There was a brief period of silence.

"Maybe it just broke or something before she could get it to him…" suggested Carl.

"Well," said Jimmy uncomfortably, "I suppose that's a possibility. Then again, given what we know of Aurora, it's probably not the most likely explanation. I hate to say it, but…"

Cindy's eyes flashed. "You think she's reneged on the antidote plan, don't you? That she's so dead-set on getting revenge that she'll accept nothing short of a fight to the death? Well, you're wrong! You hear me? Aurora wouldn't do that. Not after all the risks we've taken to make it this far."

Jimmy raised a hand to calm her. "All right, all right, I won't jump to any conclusions. I'll be the first to admit that we don't have all the pieces to this puzzle. For all we know, something may be preventing her from administering the antidote…either way though, we need to get to the main control room, and fast. I don't care _why_ she's not following the plan; all that matters is that she _isn't._ We'll have to take matters into our own hands and finish the job for her. Cindy?"

The blonde pulled the vial from its storage compartment in her blue and green suit. "Got it right here. Let's get going!"

Jimmy caught her by the wrist. "Whoa, slow down. Before we just go barreling headlong into the fray, we should take a few precautions. You... older Carl... do you have any idea if the weapon systems are back online yet? We hacked them awhile ago, but if they're up and running again, we should probably shut them off, just to make it easier for our people to get to the control room when this is all over."

"They're back up again, all right," said Future Carl, "but I don't have the security clearance to change those settings. Only Jimmy can reconfigure the main system."

"Don't worry about it!" returned the boy genius. "Goddard can just repeat the hack he did earlier, while we were still in the ducts. Goddard, you stored the password in your memory cache, right?"

"Bark bark!"

"Go to it!" Goddard's mouth opened slightly, as he presumably set about accomplishing the task. Sometime later he shut it again. "Mmmmgrr! Bark!"

"Right! Thanks boy. Well guys, looks like the hack was a success. Weapons and surveillance are off all over the base, so we're good to go."

Future Carl hung back, drumming his fingertips together, hoping one of the kids would notice him. Finally he worked up the courage to tap Jimmy on the shoulder.

"Ya?" said Jimmy, turning round.

"Sorry," apologized Future Carl, "but…well, you see, there's something else…"

"What?"

"This may be an unnecessary risk, but there's someone you're forgetting. Someone I can't in good conscience leave behind."

"Someone else?" repeated Libby. "Who?"

"Goddard."

"Euuw…" whimpered the robot dog.

"Goddard?" echoed Jimmy. "What about him?"

"Not your Goddard," corrected Future Carl. "MY Goddard. The one in this universe."

"What? He's still operational? I'd assumed that since nobody ever mentioned him, he'd been deactivated or something."

"Well, that's actually not too far off the mark. When Jimmy built this base several years back, he had some trouble getting the…uh, reactor core I think it was…to work right. Supporting life down at the bottom of the ocean isn't easy. There are so many systems that need to be managed and coordinated. In the end, Jimmy just took apart his most reliable invention – Goddard – and constructed the rest of the main core around him. In other words, Goddard is built into the base itself."

Jimmy's expression darkened, and his mouth set into a grim line. "He did that to MY dog?"

Future Carl nodded. "You have to understand…Jimmy stopped thinking of Goddard as his pet years ago. He was just another piece of machinery, a way to make things more efficient. But Goddard _isn't _just a machine. He feels things. He's self-aware. You know what I'm talking about. As he is now, he can barely move, and his body is in pieces. He's miserable. Leaving him welded to a reactor core at the bottom of the ocean…it'd be a fate worse than death. The only problem is, I have no idea HOW to get him out. I don't even have access to the reactor core room. But with your DNA, we could get inside, and maybe you could figure something out…"

"Now?"

"He's suffering terribly!"

Jimmy sighed. "All right, all right, we'll go now." He turned to the others. "I'm trusting the rest of you guys to take the second copy of the antidote to the main control room. Goddard can get you inside, but once you're there, it'll be up to Cindy to make sure DJ breathes it in. You got that? You can't mess this up, any of you. This is literally our last chance."

He met each of their eyes in turn, and he saw the same fear there that he felt simmering in the pit of his own stomach. None of them quite knew what to say to one another, and the unspoken words stretched out into a long pause.

"Well," said Jimmy, taking a deep breath, "I guess this is it, guys. Make like Nick and break a leg!"

After a round of pitiful laughter at his attempted joke, the group parted ways. As they drew apart, Cindy cast a lingering glance over her shoulder at Jimmy. He did the same, and they caught each other in the act.

"Hey Neutron…"

"Ya?"

"You…you better come back in one piece, you hear me? If you do something stupid and get yourself hurt, I'll deck you so hard you'll gargle baby teeth!"

"Ha," he snorted. "Wouldn't happen in a million years, but I appreciate the sentiment, Vortex."

They turned away for good this time, grinning to themselves as the two groups headed out toward their respective destinations...

* * *

You could cut the disturbing sexual tension with a knife.

© Mara S.

_This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	44. End Game

And now, the remainder of the big showdown! ... I swear, a psychologist would have a field day with this chapter. XD

Illustration: idreamofjimmy(dotcom)/Fanart/Maraendgame . j p g (remove the spaces, substitute dot and com)

* * *

**Chapter 44: End Game**

Dictator Jimmy turned to face the newcomers, brushing a few strands of hair out of his line of vision.

"You should have listened to my warning back in the cell, Libby. It wasn't wise to let him out. This will not end well."

Future Sheen nudged Future Libby aside, and she stepped back toward the doorway. He faced DJ across the burnt, scarred tiles, clenching and unclenching his clawed hand.

"Give it up, Jimmy. I'm stronger than you'll ever be. I can run three times faster than a normal person and jump twice as high; I can rip a metal door off its hinges and chuck it clean across the hall. You know what I can do to a human body, because you designed me to do it."

With a hair-raising chuckle, Sheen's tone changed completely; he hunched forward and his lips curled into a slasher smile.

"Well, what goes around comes around, you sick son of a bitch. You want a monster? You've got one. I'm going to chase you down, rip you open, chew up your raw insides and then spit out the pieces."

DJ's countenance remained implacable, but Future Libby cringed.

"Sheen…"

"Stay out of this, Libby," he said sternly. "Don't get in the way. He'll just take advantage of your compassion."

"An astute observation," remarked Dictator Jimmy. "I will take advantage of her."

Future Sheen, who didn't miss this double entendre, lurched forward and snarled. "Stay away from her!"

"Ooh. Awfully touchy, aren't we?"

"Touchy?" he raved. "What do you mean, touchy? How else would I be, after being locked in that hellhole for a decade? You sick son of a…We'd all be better off if I cut you in half where you stand!"

He charged toward his old friend, drawing his mutated hand back in preparation for a killing swipe. DJ merely crossed his arms and, with a look of boredom, uttered a single voice command:

"Execute Override, Program 21-12."

Future Sheen's left eye lit up from within. It cast a red glow onto his cheek bone and threw shadows down his jaw. He swerved to the right, grabbing at the left side of his face, then staggered a few more steps before coming to a dead stand-still. His biceps trembled, straining, as if he were held in place by an invisible barrier.

The Dictator walked toward him. "As if it would be that easy…"

Dictator Jimmy drew back his arm and delivered a diagonal strike across Future Sheen's face, knocking him to his knees.

"Don't!" exclaimed Future Libby.

DJ hit him again, sending him toppling to the ground, where he lay unblinkingly, like a deactivated machine. Future Libby darted forward with a disheartened cry, only to stop short when the Dictator let out a laugh.

"Did you honestly think I would create a volatile super-soldier without designing a fail-safe?" he asked scornfully. "Did you really think that I would grant Sheen superhuman strength, torment him for the better part of ten years, and then give him the opportunity to escape, unless I was _absolutely_ assured of my own safety? I'm frankly shocked by your lack of clear reasoning."

"Leave him alone! I'll – I'll fight you myself!"

"Good idea. Let's see how far that gets you, shall we?"

He kicked Sheen to the side, then advanced toward Future Libby, who extended her palms and locked into a defensive stance. Before he could attack, however, a wall of jade fire shot between them and cut him off.

"I swear to God, if you touch her…" threatened Aurora, standing.

Dictator Jimmy tilted his head toward her, his profile backlit by the ghastly flames. "You've still got some fight left in you?"

"You better believe I do. What are you waiting for? Hit me with your best shot, you piece of crap."

His gaze traveled over his three opponents with disinterested calculation, as a player might look upon a set of game pieces. He walked toward Aurora, raising an arm as he did so.

"I no longer need to 'hit you with my best shot'…"

She went on the defensive as he neared her, crouching like a cornered animal.

"You see, " he said, "I have a new toy…"

Behind him, Future Sheen re-animated, pulled aloft as if by strings – his arms dangled limply and his mouth hung open, a _lusus naturae_ with crooked shoulders and glowing, feral eyes.

"What in God's name…?" she exclaimed.

"Let's see how you think on your feet." He pushed his hand through the air, extending his palm toward her. "Re-direct 21-12. Target: Aurora…"

Like a trick of light, Sheen pivoted, sprinted, and pinned Aurora against the wall, all in the course of a few seconds. He grasped her neck with his left hand, and his razor-sharp nails pricked the skin just above her jugular vein. Her toes dangled several inches above the floor – she squirmed and clawed at his arm, choking and gasping for breath.

"Sheen!" shrieked Future Libby. "What are you doin'?"

Future Sheen didn't seem conscious of the drama playing out around him. He merely stared into Aurora's face, teeth bared in a snarl, a killer instinct blazing in his left eye. Aurora ignored him – she scowled instead at DJ, even as her fingers pried at Future Sheen's iron grip.

"C-coward," she gasped, struggling for air. "C-can't even…kill me yourself…"

Dictator Jimmy smirked. "I have always been a firm believer in the merits of delegation…"

Future Libby took advantage of their exchange to scramble to Sheen's side – she grabbed hold of his free arm, but her attempts to tug him away met with no success. Seeing that Future Libby's pleas were falling on deaf ears, Aurora sent a river of green light rippling down toward Sheen's arm. Just before the blaze reached his skin, Future Libby shouted out.

"Wait Aurora, don't hurt him!"

"Uchhh…" she choked. "Well what…do you expect…me to do…"

"Give me a chance to reason with him first."

"Reason?" repeated the Dictator. "He can't be reasoned with."

"You wanna bet?" challenged Future Libby.

Aurora squirmed. "Libby…you better…know what you're doing…"

Future Libby merely glared pointedly at Dictator Jimmy, then went right back to tugging on Future Sheen's arm. "Leave Aurora alone, Sheen! Remember why we came here. She's not the one who did this to you!"

"Oh, is that so?" incited the Dictator. "Because it seems to me that she is _precisely_ the one who did this to you." He took a few steps closer to the trio, lowering his voice as he did. "Remember, back on the ship those first couple of months? It was rough, wasn't it? Just you, Carl, and Libby, trying to cope with a world that was falling apart at the seams. You tried to make things easier for her – you cracked jokes, and snuck her extra bits of food, and held her hand when I pulled one trigger after another – but she didn't care about any of that, did she? All Libby could think about was Cindy, stuck back on Earth."

Future Sheen growled, tightening his grip on Aurora.

"It was Cindy's fault – it's _Aurora'_s fault – that Libby was taken away from you. And you're the one who's suffered for it, forced to endure experiment after experiment, sequestered away in the dark for unbearable lengths of time. Well now it's happening again. As soon as Libby got out of the cell, what was the first thing she wanted to do? I'd be willing to bet a substantial sum that it was 'find Aurora'. So you see? Libby _still_ cares about her more than she cares about you."

"That's not true," broke in Future Libby. "I DO care about you. I crossed billions of miles of space to find you! Please, just put her down, before this gets any more out of control..."

For a moment, Future Sheen's eyes seemed to clear, and his grip slackened enough for his captive to at least breathe again.

"You see?" prodded Dictator Jimmy. "There she goes again, protecting Aurora. And it doesn't even make any sense. If it weren't for Aurora, none of this would have happened. She was the one that made me like this. If it hadn't been for her immaturity, her jealousy, our lives would have ended up very different."

"Don't listen to him, Sheen," said Future Libby. "He's manipulatin' you. He's just like…like…a little devil on your shoulder! Well I'm your shoulder angel, so please listen to what I have to say. Sure, Aurora made some mistakes in the past, but we need to focus on what's happening _now._"

DJ made a sound somewhere between a contemptuous scoff and a chuckle. "Oh, that's cute. But you are naïve indeed if you think that I'm the only devil in this picture. You truly don't understand what you've gotten yourself into, do you? You're playing a game where you don't know all the rules. He's twisted, warped, ruined – a killing machine that can't even control who his victims are. Sheen knows what I'm talking about. He remembers our clinical trials, when he ripped apart whatever or whoever I told him to. You remember, don't you?"

Future Sheen hung his head, eyes pressed shut. DJ grinned triumphantly.

"That's what I thought. I know you've tried to convince yourself: 'if I can just escape, if I can just try hard enough, I can overcome this. I can be with Libby and the others again and everything will work out'. Well, you can only delude yourself so much. You know what you are, Sheen. Even if you were to defeat me, even if you were to get off this planet, it wouldn't change what's inside you. All it would take is one moment's lapse in restraint, and she'd be dead – you could even kill her in your sleep. Face it: no matter how much you wish otherwise, she'd be better off without you."

Libby took a step closer. "He's wrong. I wouldn't be better off without you. And I don't believe a word he's told me about you, and you _can_ break his hold over you. You just need to focus all your willpower. You can do it, concentrate!"

"Yes, concentrate. You'll wake up a bit more, but you still won't be able to control your physical motions. Go on, try it – see how it feels to be fully cognizant while paralyzed inside your own body."

Future Sheen thrashed back and forth a few times, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not peel his fingers away from Aurora's throat.

"He's…right…" slurred Future Sheen haltingly. "Libby, you should. Should run away. While…"

"Fight harder!" she shouted.

"Please. I am going. Going to…kill. Kill her. Can't stop…"

Future Libby looked up at him sharply, as Tuyen's advice once again filled her mind. She reached down and took his free hand in hers, and then slowly guided it up toward her neck.

"I'm puttin' myself out on a limb here, and you gotta return the favor. Okay? See, look…" She uncurled his fingers and wrapped each one around her throat, then let her arm drop. She met his eyes without the slightest hint of trepidation. "I feel…no fear."

Future Sheen gaped at her. After a moment he pulled his hand away from her neck. "Libby…"

If her short-lived breakthrough upset him, Dictator Jimmy gave no sign of it. Instead, he broke the silence that followed with a resigned sigh.

"What a shame. I was looking forward to killing you myself, but…How does that saying go again? 'Tell me and I'll forget, show me and I'll remember, involve me and I'll understand?' Well, I have a lesson that will pander to even _your_ learning curve, Libby." He nodded his head in Sheen's direction. "Re-direct 21-12. Target: Libby…"

In an instant, Future Sheen dropped Aurora. She fell to her knees, gasping for breath, and DJ didn't waste a single second – before she could recover, he grabbed her by the shoulders and rammed her against the wall. Meanwhile, Future Sheen turned on Future Libby, his red eye aglow.

"Sheen, I –AHHH!"

Future Sheen struck Libby with the back of his hand, and she fell backward, landing a few feet away on the floor. Shaking from surprise and fright, she touched the base of her nose and examined her fingertips. They were sticky with blood.

She gaped up at him, mouth open. "You…you hit me!"

"Of _course_ he hit you," said Dictator Jimmy, "and he will continue to do so until I tell him to stop. That's all there is to it."

Future Sheen looked down at his target without recognizing her; like a zombie, he mindlessly moved forward to deliver the next blow. Seeing his intent, Aurora kneed Dictator Jimmy in the stomach and then knocked him out of the way. She somersaulted forward and kicked Future Sheen's legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor. Aurora vaulted in between him and Future Libby and encircled the two of them in a tornado of protective fire.

She reached down to help her friend. "Libby, are you OK?"

The still-shocked Future Libby pulled herself off the floor. "I don't understand… Tuyen said that if I…if I…"

"Don't trust, Libby, _act!_ You have to see the situation for what it is!" Aurora added another layer of flames to the ring, and the shield soared higher. "We only have a couple more seconds. I have to think of a plan..."

"Whaddya mean, 'think of a plan'? I don't understand, Aurora! Why haven't you used the _you-know-what_ yet? This fight is too much for you. You look like you've been beaten to within an inch of your life!"

"I know, but there's nothing I can do," replied Aurora flatly. "The vial broke before I could get here, Libby. Smashed against the duct wall."

"It…broke?"

Aurora nodded slowly. "I'm not going to sugarcoat things for you. We're in serious trouble here. There's no way you can beat Sheen, and I can't protect you from him and fight off Jimmy at the same time."

Future Libby swayed a little, suddenly lightheaded, and Aurora caught her by the arm.

"I…I can't believe this is happenin'…"

"It doesn't look good, I know."

"What…what do we do now?" asked Future Libby.

"We wait for backup. And in the meantime, we fight."

"You just said yourself that we're no match for them!"

"You got a better idea?" shot back the blonde.

The flames began to wither, and Aurora and Future Libby leaned against one another, tired, injured, and emotionally drained. As the green light grew dimmer, they could make out two human-shaped shadows looming ominously beyond the curtain of fire. The silhouettes crept forward, growing larger and darker as they approached. Dictator Jimmy and Future Sheen morphed through the blaze at last, closing in like wolves on their prey.

"Look out!" yelled Aurora.

Future Sheen sprung toward Libby, and Aurora hurled herself into the air, drop-kicking him in the stomach with both feet. He tumbled backward, and Aurora hit the floor.

"Run, Li–!"

Dictator Jimmy grabbed Aurora from behind, wrapping his arm around her neck and pulling it tight. Caught in perhaps the worst possible position from which to escape a stranglehold, Aurora fought back with every last ounce of her strength. Future Libby recognized her friend's danger and rushed forward to help – only to be blocked by Future Sheen, who had already recovered from Aurora's maneuver.

"Stop it! You're helpin' him win!"

Future Sheen slashed out at her with his left hand, cutting her across the collarbone. Shreds of golden fabric fell to earth like autumn leaves, and Future Libby sank to her knees, clutching a bandaged hand to the wound. Lifting her fingers, she looked down to see a rapidly spreading red stain. With the sight of blood came an awakening, a realization unlike any she had ever felt.

"You're…you're really goin' to kill me, aren't you?"

In answer, he hit her again, and she fell forward onto her hands.

"You can't kill me. I _can't_ let it end this way. What'll happen to you when you wake up and realize what you've done? What'll happen to Aurora if I'm not around to help her?" She grabbed hold of his leg and buried her face against it. "Please…_please _don't kill me…"

A few feet away, Aurora, unable to break free from DJ's hold, ceased her wriggling and instead shot a fireball straight up at the ceiling. A waterfall of concrete, drywall, and fractured piping came crashing down, forcing Dictator Jimmy to roll to one side to evade the falling rubble. Aurora, free at last from his grasp, rolled in the other direction.

"Execute Override, Program 21-12!" Aurora belted out the command. "Redirect 21-12: Target, Jimmy!"

The Dictator stood, calmly brushing dust and small debris off his clothing. "You memorized my code words? Very clever. Unfortunately for you, those commands only work when I say them."

She gritted her teeth, and he smiled pleasantly.

"You can't save your friend, Aurora. It would be in your best interests to just forget about her and focus on fighting me."

"Like hell I will! Is there any limit to how low you're willing to stoop? What a freaking typical villain tactic, you hoser!"

Aurora whirled to face Future Sheen, who was pulling Future Libby up off the ground by the back of her dress. "Open your eyes and see who you're attacking, Sheen!" she bellowed. "Is your head screwed on backward? Get with the program, you freak! Wake! Up!"

She pitched two fireballs at the back of his head, and they flew low, hitting him between the shoulder blades. The impact knocked him to the floor, and Future Libby took the opportunity to scramble away.

"Wake up, you stupid knuckle-dragger!" Aurora hit him with three more bolts, and he drew his knees up to his chest, little plumes of smoke rising from his wounds. "I'll keep this up until your skin turns to charcoal if I have to! You may have superhuman strength and one heck of a freakish mutant arm, but you don't have Jimmy's healing capabilities. When I burn you, you stay burnt. Your single-mindedness makes you vulnerable – as long as you're intent on attacking only Libby, I can easily beat you!"

She wound back her arm to fire another shot, but before she could, Dictator Jimmy blindsided her and grabbed her by the wrist.

"…And as long as you're intent on protecting Libby," he echoed, "I can easily beat you. It works both ways."

He yanked Aurora toward him, and she instinctively pulled back. At the last moment he released her arm and shoved her away with both hands, turning her inertia against her. She lurched backward, and only years of training prevented her from losing her footing and falling to the ground.

"Son of a –"

"Better concentrate on defending yourself, Aurora…"

She cried out and barreled toward him, one arm drawn back to throw a punch. He intercepted her attack, catching her about the waist and using her momentum to flip her off her feet and into the air. Aurora was cast head-over-heels in a 360 degree arc, and yet she somehow managed to retain enough coordination to stick the landing and come out standing squarely on both feet. Mere seconds after this elegant display of acrobatics, she hooked around and walloped him in the spine.

"Suck that!"

Dictator Jimmy fell down onto his side. She kicked him over, and then stepped on his back; he went rigid with pain as she crunched his vertebrae under her heel.

"I hope that hurts!" she snarled.

Indigo flames shot up all around him, and Aurora hastily withdrew – but not quickly enough. Seared by the heat, she was forced to dodge to her left, bringing her out in front of Dictator Jimmy. He gripped her leg and pulled her down beside him into the lake of blue fire, where he climbed on top of her and grabbed her by the shoulders. She threw him off, and they tumbled over one another, wrestling to gain the upper hand.

"Uchh…let go!" she spluttered.

He forced her to the ground again, pinning her arms over her head and bearing down on her with the full force of his body weight.

"Get off get off get off GET OFF!"

Aurora locked her legs around him and used her lower body to flip him onto his back, then raised her arms up over her head and brought both fists smashing down. He threw up a glowing forearm to shield his face and then grabbed her by the throat. She did the same to him, and they strained against one another, grimacing with the effort.

"I don't know about you, Aurora," quipped the Dictator, choking slightly, "but this seems like a lose-lose situation to me..."

"Shut the hell up!"

A small distance away, Future Sheen came out of his stupor at last and flopped over onto his stomach. He rested his weight on one forearm, holding his face in his other hand.

"Ooowwww… my head! Jeez, what happened?"

"S-Sheen?" prompted Future Libby hesitantly. "Is that…_you_?"

Future Sheen groaned and drew his knees up under him, still holding his throbbing head. "Tsssss…Ya, ya it's me…ugh…"

Exhaling in relief, Future Libby rushed forward to help him up. The second she came within range, however, Future Sheen took another swipe at her – he missed by half an inch, and Future Libby skittered backward. Sheen looked down at his own hand, taken by surprise.

"What the…? Why did I just…?"

He spotted the red stain on her chest and broke off. His mouth trembled slightly, and his stricken expression spoke volumes. "Libby, y-you're bleeding!" She touched a hand to the bloodstain, and he asked the obvious question in a tense, uneven whisper. "Did I…did I do that?"

"Ya, you did, and if you don't get a hold of yourself, you're gonna _keep_ doin' it."

He dove forward and caught her by the left sandal. She jerked her leg away, and the strap broke off in his hand. He looked down at it, eyes wide.

"I can't…I can't control my body. Libby! You have to get away from me!"

"Do you honestly think I can outrun you? If you don't figure out some way to check yourself, you're gonna kill me!"

He twisted from side to side like a reptile, crawling forward on all fours. His red eye grew bright again, and he looked up at her with a carnivorous smile.

"_Heh heh…I'm going to catch you, pretty, pretty...I'm going to get you..._"

She backed away, appalled, and a second later he berated himself. "W- what am I saying? Agh! Snap out of it!"

He drew himself up off the ground, and Future Libby retreated.

"_Hhhhhh..." _he exhaled. _"I can smell your blood..."_

She turned and ran, and Future Sheen sprung after her. He tackled her from behind, and she crashed to the floor, losing her other shoe and skinning her knee in the process. He grabbed her by the arms and threw her onto her back, but before he could get any further, another one of Aurora's emerald streamers struck him between the shoulder blades. Future Sheen fell to the side, contorting.

"Keep your hands off her, damn it!" shouted Aurora, who had managed to get up again. She turned away from her own fight and yelled irrationally to Future Libby. "Do whatever it takes, Libby! Don't be afraid to hurt him. Kill him if you have to! Just don't let him kill you – don't go down without a fight!"

DJ capitalized on her momentary inattention and used it to bring her down. He slammed his heel into her lower back, and Aurora's whole world broke apart with a deafening crack; stunned, she tipped over at an angle, crashing to earth like a doomed porcelain vase. Mid-fall, he kicked her a second time, and she was propelled horizontally, tumbling and sliding across the tile before coming to a stop several feet away. For a long time she remained motionless, lying in a heap on the floor. Finally she managed to prop herself up on one arm…but despite her best efforts, she could not get up.

Dictator Jimmy walked over to her. "What did I tell you, Aurora?"

She collapsed again, coughing, and he kicked her once more, contemptuously this time.

"You're not even trying."

She curled up into a ball, shuddering. "AHH! GOD that hurts!"

He kicked her repeatedly in the abdomen, his face blank. "That's right. It _does."_ He bent over and, grabbing her under both arms, hauled her up. "I wonder how many of your ribs I can break…"

He threw her down again, dashing her body against the floor. Her vision flashed to white and, for the second time that day, she felt herself slipping toward unconsciousness. Aurora's thoughts came in disjointed, dreamy waves as he continued to throttle her – she waited for her fury to kick in and conjure up a protective cocoon, but her instincts didn't come to her rescue. Instead, she remained where she was, watching with little comprehension as Future Sheen rose fitfully, tendrils of smoke still coiling off his skin.

"Oh _no_…" he breathed.

His arm yanked him forward, and he stumbled along behind it, tugging and squirming as if grappling with an invisible foe. Fully conscious now, Future Sheen experienced the enormity of his own out-of-body horror; he limped toward Future Libby, half-stooped over, like a corpse moving at the behest of a necromancer.

"Please!" he begged. "Not again…"

His sinews strained, dragging him on. Future Sheen's perception thrummed in and out of focus like a plucked rubber band. One second, he rode wild on a current of primordial excitement; the next, his entire being recoiled, revolted by his monstrous impulses. Caught between the two forces, he squeezed his eyes shut in one last-ditch effort to regain control over his actions.

"If I can't see her, I can't hurt her…"

He lurched forward involuntarily, catching Future Libby by the tear in her dress. In that instant his lids flew open, and their eyes locked: his tortured and panic-stricken, hers wide and filled with fear. An eternity seemed to pass as he grabbed her by the neck and flung her down onto the ground.

"No!" he cried frantically. "STOP! STOP IT!"

Future Libby rolled over and made a break for it, but he threw himself onto her back, pinning her down with his knee.

"Oh God, make it stop!" he pleaded in anguish. "After everything I've been through for her, all those years in the dark...the dark wasn't supposed to follow me out!"

He hunched over her, tears stinging his eyes. They ran down his cheeks and splashed onto her clothes, ominously attracting his attention to something else entirely: the silver zipper which ran the length of her dress. He turned his head away and shouted hoarsely.

"Goddamn it, how could you do this to me?!"

DJ took a break from kicking Aurora to throw a snide comment his way. "Don't blame me for your current predicament, Sheen. You were the one who brought Libby into harm's way by coming here. You knew perfectly well what could happen, and yet you still chose to lead her right into the heart of the fight. If you ask me, it was pure selfishness on your part. You wanted revenge, didn't you? And you were willing to risk her life in order to get it…"

"Shut up!"

He turned away. "With pleasure. I'm growing quite tired of this damsel-in-distress routine. Either finish her off, or finish yourself off instead. I've made my point, and now I'm done with the both of you."

Leaving them to their own devices, he grabbed Aurora by the hair and dragged her to her feet. She didn't give him the satisfaction of crying out in pain, but when their gazes met, her eyes were watering involuntarily.

"Now, where were we, Aurora?"

She spit out more blood. "As I recall, I was just waiting for the opportunity to do THIS –"

She gouged him in the throat, and he staggered away, clutching at his damaged windpipe. He took heaving, raspy breaths, and the skeletal lines which crisscrossed his suit bobbed up and down on his chest. Within moments, his healing ability kicked in, and the corners of his mouth twitched upward into a sneer.

"Impressive, Aurora. If it weren't for my technology, that last strike could have proved fatal. Crushing your enemy's trachea? A brutal and effective maneuver."

Aurora's breathing came in ragged gasps, and she held her ribcage, trembling with overexertion. "Thanks. I aim to please."

Despite her jocular words, it was clear that Aurora was nearing the end of her rope. Lines of blood streamed down her left arm from a gash on her shoulder, and yellow and purple bruises colored her face.

"I'm no anatomist, Neutron," she began, "but I know I'm in deep trouble right now. My body can't handle much more of this. If I take too many more direct hits, I'll be out of commission for sure."

"And you're telling me this why?"

"Just thought I'd rob you of the satisfaction of telling me yourself."

"On the contrary," he asserted. "I am pleased to hear you admit it."

She took another swing at him, and he dodged to his left, bringing him within a few feet of the pile of ceiling rubble which separated their fight from Libby and Future Sheen's.

"Libby, I am _so_ sorry," babbled Sheen. "Please…please don't hate me. I want you to know that it isn't _me,_ I don't mean it...God, I'm sorry..."

Future Libby, shaking like a leaf, somehow managed to maintain enough composure to try a new approach. "I'm sorry too! If you hadn't defied Jimmy by sendin' me back to Earth all those years ago, none of this would have happened to you."

He grabbed at his head. "AH! Don't say that! I don't want to be angry at you too! Let me at least have one person in my life who I don't want to rip to shreds!"

Still trembling, Future Libby continued. "My point is, I never had a chance to say thank you. What you did...it was the most amazin' thing I've ever seen. You risked your life to save me, and not a day has gone by since that I haven't thought about that fact."

"What does it matter?" he wailed, distraught. "It's all going to come to nothing! I always told myself that things would get better, SOMEDAY things would get better...and now, THIS? Is this really what the future has in store for me? Losing my mind and murdering the one person I've been waiting for? Damn it all! I gave up everything for you, Libby, lost everything, lost myself even, and I thought you'd be able to give some of it back...but now I'm going to lose you, too! How could he do this to me? How could ALL OF YOU do this to me? EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"

"Sheen," coaxed Future Libby, "listen carefully. I'm no Rocky, but the monks at least taught me how to dodge an average punch. I know you can't stop, but if you can just _slow yourself down_…just to the speed and strength of a normal human…I _might_ be able to do somethin'."

"I'm trying, I'm trying!"

"Did you really endure ten years of misery for it to end like this? Try harder! Everythin' depends on it!"

Calling upon every ounce of muscle and willpower he possessed, Future Sheen concentrated on slowing his breathing and heartbeat. This time, when he seized her about the waist and slung her onto her back, he ignored his guilt, and instead devoted all his energy into visualizing himself shifting into a lower gear.

"I think it's working!" he exulted, eyes still closed.

"Oh yeah? Good."

She delivered a swift, hard kick straight to his groin. Caught off guard, he doubled over in dumbstruck agony. She crawled out from under him and, stumbling to her feet, raced over to the field of fallen debris. Selecting a sturdy steel plate from amid the wreckage, she turned back to Future Sheen just as he was getting up.

"Sheen, I'm really sorry about this, but…"

She walloped him across the face with the sheet of metal. He collapsed, knocked unconscious, and she lowered the improvised weapon, breathing hard.

"I…I did it?…" she asked after a moment. "I can't believe it. Haha, I did it!"

Her euphoria faded as the adrenaline rush retreated. She sunk back down into corporeality, and the welts, burns, and lacerations which zigzagged her body finally took their toll. Exhausted from the traumatic fight and from her numerous injuries, her legs buckled under her. She fell to her knees on the floor beside him, smiling through the haze of pain and fatigue.

"Did you see, Aurora?" she whispered. "I won…"

For a moment she sat there, posed in her tattered dress like a broken doll. Nauseous from the smoke and the smell of her own blood, her vision started to blur. Finally, her eyelids flickered shut, and she flopped down into a neat little pile beside Future Sheen.

"Libby?" gasped Aurora.

Dictator Jimmy watched this all in silence, one eyebrow raised ever so slightly. "Well. Wasn't _that_ an interesting outcome to their fight…"

Aurora whirled back to face him, a look of fierce triumph on her scratched and dirtied face. "She beat him! Haha, she really did it! You hear that? _She beat him_! And she didn't do it with any of that power of love crap. She knocked his lights out with a freaking chunk of metal! Hahaha!"

She stumbled slightly, her laugh growing wilder. He shrugged.

"Doesn't really matter either way. That entire drama was merely a small footnote to tonight's main attraction. Am I right?"

Aurora's laugh turned into a coughing fit. She rested her hands on her knees, struggling to breathe.

"Heh…hhh…" she rasped. "Let's not lie to each other anymore, OK? We both know how this fight is going to end. But you know what? I'm not angry anymore. Hell, you could kill me right now, and I'd die happy, just from having seen that look on your face when Libby thwacked Sheen over the head." Aurora winced as a shooting pain raced across her abdomen. "Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? Your perfect killing machine, defeated by a five-foot four-inch fighter in a miniskirt…."

Aurora's left leg began to tremble violently, and she trailed off, gritting her teeth. She grabbed hold of it to prevent it from giving out, but only succeeded in spreading the malady to the rest of her overtaxed muscles. Growing weaker by the moment, her entire body shook with exhaustion, as she struggled to draw in one shallow breath after another.

"Keh…hhh…damn it…"

"Aurora."

Dictator Jimmy crossed the short distance between them and came to a stop directly in front of her. Through sheer defiance alone, she forced herself to straighten and look him in the eye. For a long moment they stood thusly, face to face and eye to eye, without saying anything.

"Well…looks like this is it," he said.

He clasped his hands behind his back and started off in a slow, steady circle around her. Aurora refused to budge – tipped slightly to one side, she clutched her bloodied arm, beads of sweat running down her face. Simply remaining upright was a monumental endeavor, but she clung to this last shred of pride. He continued pacing, now within her field of vision, now outside of it again, and she watched him with the steely eyes of a soldier.

"I will be the first to admit the magnitude of your accomplishment, Aurora," he began. "While you have ultimately failed in your goal, this is the closest I have ever come to dying. You overcame my global defense system, infiltrated my underwater base, survived countless pitfalls, defeated a legion of robotic soldiers, and made it all the way into the main control room before finally failing. I applaud your commendable efforts."

His praise was laden with a cruel and subtle mockery, and she looked on him with disgust.

"Spare me the bloody pleasantries, Neutron. You can gloat on your own time."

He disappeared from her sight again, and a pattern of slow, rhythmic footsteps filled the void. He circled round and re-appeared on her other side, an amused expression on his face.

"Not to dampen your spirits," he said, "but I don't think you have much say in the matter."

She followed him with her eyes, seething internally. In a last-ditch bid to stall for time, she pulled out the final weapon in her arsenal.

"Tch. Keep it up, buddy. You think you have me all figured out…my _plan_ all figured out…but you're wrong. I didn't come here for the reason you think. You see, Neutron, there's something you don't know about. I have an ace in the hole."

"Oh, is that so?"

"That's right. You may have beaten me this round, but it doesn't matter. Even if you were to shoot me, and Libby, and Sheen – heck, every single member of the resistance – right this instant, you would _still_ lose in the end."

"Is this some sort of morality monologue?" he jeered. "About how good will always triumph over evil, or some such nonsense?"

"Please. Don't insult my intelligence. I'm talking about an actual tactical advantage – one that you couldn't have possibly accounted for."

He concluded his pacing where he had begun, directly in front of her. "You're bluffing."

"What'd be the use in that? It won't help me get out of what's coming."

"That's right," he said. "It won't. This is it for you, Aurora. You think the last ten years have been a nightmare? They're nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you once we've left this room. You will beg me for mercy, but I will show none. Only after I have broken you in every possible way will I kill you."

"Kill me. I don't care. Torture me, rip me open, tear me limb from limb…do whatever you want. Some recent experiences have made me realize: it doesn't matter. We could live a million lives in a million universes, and what would it amount to? Only a million lives, out of an infinite number. You and me, you and me, endlessly repeated, over and over and over again forever. What's one life, when you know that?"

He turned his back to her. "You're beginning to sound like quite the Nietzsche wannabe, Aurora. But I'll tell you right now – you won't find refuge in nihilism. That's the great paradox of pain; you can't escape it by saying that it is meaningless. Pain gives meaning to meaninglessness."

"I'm not waxing philosophical, Neutron. You're just not paying attention to the clues I'm giving you, and it's going to make it that much sweeter when you see for yourself what I was talking about."

He snapped around, his voice tense and quick. "The only thing I'm going to _see_, Aurora, is _you_. You, as I torture you, strip you of your humanity, make you beg for your life like an animal. I want to witness the moment when you reach that black epiphany, when you finally realize that in the end, there is no dignity or bravery in the face of death. There is only misery and ruin, as you wait for the gaping mindlessness of the universe to swallow you whole." He seized her chin, and she winced a little. "There is _nothing_ left for you Aurora, understand? No hope, no future. No heaven or hell. Just me."

He moved in closer, and the conversation assumed a whole new tone. "_Just me_…"

Completely drained of energy, Aurora slumped forward, and her head landed on his shoulder. He took hold of her arms to steady her, and there was a long pause.

"You and I are pretty warped, aren't we Neutron?" she said quietly.

When he spoke at last, his voice was gentle and devoid of derision. "Yes. We are."

"Why do you suppose that is? Why did it have to come to this? I always knew it would, but…why?"

There was another pause before he answered. "Because…it's what we both want."

Taken aback by the tone of his voice, Aurora repeated the strange statement. "What we want?"

"Yes. Your whole life you've been struggling to determine whether you were truly to blame for what happened to me. This fight – you weren't seeking revenge, you were seeking the answer to that question. The truth is…deep down, you _wanted_ to lose. You wanted me to hurt you. In the deepest, darkest corners of your psyche, you want me to punish you for what you did. It's a strange catharsis, I'll admit, but it's the only thing that will free you from your bitterness and guilt."

In the long silence that followed, Aurora fought a growing compulsion to surrender, to give in to him and let it all be over with. In the end she settled on a compromise, and instead acknowledged the irony that overshadowed all their interactions.

"Heh. It's funny, isn't it, that the only person who truly understands me is the same person who's going to kill me?"

"I suppose it is."

"And you?" she asked. "What do you want?"

"Me? I want the same thing I've always wanted."

"You already have everything you want, Neutron," she said wearily.

"Not quite." He touched her cheek, and she shivered.

"Listen," spoke Aurora, "before you take me away from here, there's just one other thing I want. One minor concession, that's all. Lord knows I've never asked for a favor from you before, but just this once…"

She never got a chance to finish her sentence, for at that exact moment, something else caught her attention. On the other side of the room she spotted Cindy, who was gawking at her from within the hole in the control room wall. The other kids popped out alongside her, and Sheen waved excitedly to Aurora. Cindy smacked him aside before pulling out the antidote and gesturing at it wildly. Aurora interpreted this visual cue to mean something along the lines of "what the hell are you doing?" and, in an instant, she re-formulated her plan of action. Without betraying what had transpired, Aurora let her eyes trail over DJ's face, and she repeated her last words in a murmur.

"…just this once…"

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him into a tight embrace. He stiffened at first, but then slowly relaxed into it, sliding his hands up her back and into her hair.

"The concession?" he whispered. "What do you want?"

She tightened her hold, motioning for the kids to approach. They stealthily picked their way across the chamber, with Cindy in the lead. Aurora beckoned for them to walk faster, disguising the movement by twining her fingers in his hair. The thrill of the moment washed over her, and for a second she had the sensation of being outside history – one by one, she watched all the players as they moved to their appointed places on the stage. She drank in the heady rush of clinging to an already-conquered foe, a foe as yet oblivious to his fate. Heart pumping furiously, she whispered into his ear.

"I want you to look behind you."

Dictator Jimmy turned his head and peered back over his shoulder. He saw the kids approaching from a short distance away, and Aurora had the satisfaction of watching his eyes widen. Before he could react, she clamped both her arms around him and converted every last remaining ounce of energy and emotion into raw firepower. A tower of flames consumed them both, swirling round in a cyclonic pyre. Aurora pushed him back, then roundhouse kicked him in the face, and he stumbled to one side, stunned and badly burned. Cindy recognized her opportunity and went for it. She darted forward away from the others, holding the antidote aloft in one hand.

"Hey Aurora, think fast!"

She hurled the vial with all her might, and it sailed across the room in a high arc, turning circles through the air as it traveled upward toward its zenith. It caught the light like a crystal, and the seconds seemed to drag into hours as it sparkled and glimmered its way back down to earth. Aurora swept it out of the air and, in one unbroken motion, flung her arm downward, redirecting the vial at the floor.

"Say hello to my ace in the hole!" she exulted.

The vial burst, releasing a fine mist which diffused and rose to engulf the still-healing Dictator. He hacked as the tiny droplets entered his lungs.

"An airborne agent?"

Blood began to trickle from his nose, and he staggered a little, choking on the vapor. He coughed violently, perspiration gathering on his suddenly-ashen skin. Despite this undignified physical reaction, his expression never lost its confidence. Half bent over, he looked up at Aurora from under strands of sweat-slicked hair.

"I don't know what you're planning or what's going on, but I can assure you, it will not work. Neither chemical nor biological warfare will harm me. If it's an airborne toxin, my suit will heal me, and if it's a pathogen, my immune system will fight it off. It's a strange byproduct of the megalomanium – my immune system is…is…"

His cough grew increasingly frenetic, and for the first time, his eyes betrayed a hint of concern. "What's…why isn't…" He doubled over, hacking so loudly that the kids winced at the sound. "I don't understand…" he said, looking at the floor. "Why am I still coughing?"

"It's because the stuff you just breathed in wasn't a toxin or a pathogen, Neutron," she answered. "It was something else. Something you never could have prepared for in a million years."

Bleary-eyed and struggling for breath, he looked back and forth between her and the kids, unable to make sense of the situation.

"What _are_ those? Holograms? A shapeshifting species? Or is this aerosol hallucinogenic?"

"None of the above. You're not seeing things, and this isn't some sort of trick. They are exactly who you think they are."

He dropped to one knee, rasping horribly, his arms wrapped round his stomach. Tremors ran up and down his body, and his hands and leg muscles quaked. Beads of sweat dripped down his chin as his failing vision stretched and blurred his surroundings into meaningless blotches of color. Having not seen what he did to Aurora during their fight, the kids felt a twinge of sympathy for him.

"What is happening to me? If it wasn't a pathogen or a poison, then what on earth did I just breathe in!"

Aurora dropped the bomb without a smidgen of ceremony. "It's an antidote to the megalomanium."

He repeated her words dumbly, drawing out the syllables. "An…tidote?"

"That's right. It's going to put you out for a little while, Neutron. And then when you wake up, you'll be cured."

"You..." He lost his balance and fell over onto his side, but still stared up at her with strained, bewildered eyes. "You…"

"'Me' nothing. _You_ miscalculated, Neutron. You assumed that I was here to kill you, and thus tailored your response to meet that threat. But that was never my intention. My goal was not to destroy you, but to save you."

"Save me? But I...I don't..."

His head lolled forward. Fighting with everything he had to stay awake, he crawled forward a few feet, though he could no longer speak. The inevitable was not far off, however, and within a few moments the antidote overpowered him. His eyes rolled up into his skull, and he went limp, collapsing into an unconscious heap at Aurora's feet. She stared down at him in silence for a long while before making her final pronouncement.

"End game, Neutron."

Seeing that the danger had passed, Cindy ran over to the fallen Dictator, while Aurora limped a few steps away and slumped down into a sitting position.

"Are you sure he was supposed to pass out after inhaling the antidote?" asked Cindy worriedly. "I thought Jimmy said that the only reason he'd lose consciousness was if the antidote was too strong, and he was slipping into a coma!" she paused. "...And, on another note, what the heck were you two doing when we came in here, anyway?"

Aurora shuddered as sharp pains raced through her core. "...uuuugh..."

She curled forward and spit up blood, which spattered on the floor between her outstretched legs, and Cindy realized that the real person she should be concerned about was her future self.

"Holy crap," she exclaimed, darting forward, "are you all right? Ugh, what am I saying? Of course you're not all right – look at you! You're throwing up blood for God's sake!"

"Yeah, I'm in pretty rough shape..."

Libby, who by this point had noticed the room's other slumbering occupants, could no longer contain her curiosity. "Listen, Aurora," she began apprehensively, "I know you're kind of in dire straits yourself right now, but would you mind tellin' me why me and older Sheen are all bashed up and lyin' face-down on the floor?"

"They'll be fine. They're just unconscious. Sheen got a little too friendly for his own good, so Libby gave him a sheet-metal sandwich...heh heh heh..."

Aurora's chuckle turned into a cough, and she flopped onto her back. Exhausted, she stared up at the ceiling, lying on her pillow of matted, golden hair.

"And what about you, Aurora?" said Cindy. "Are you even going to be able to move around after receiving that many injuries?"

"Don't worry about me. My suit's nothing like Neutron's, but it does have some healing capability. It just...operates a bit differently, that's all. I need to concentrate on resting for awhile. It's OK..."

She exhaled the last two words, closing her eyes as she did so. The room fell silent, and the kids shuffled about uneasily. When they finally struck up a conversation again, they instinctively spoke in whispers.

"So...what do we do now?" asked Carl.

Libby took a seat, crossing her legs and resting her chin in her hands. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm dead tired. I'm gonna chill right here until Jimmy and skinny Carl get back with Goddard."

Carl cringed. "But...there's _blood_ on the floor!"

"There's none where I am. Come on over."

He obliged reluctantly, and the two of them huddled together for comfort in the middle of the charred room. Cindy continued watching Aurora while Sheen, who had been standing off by himself, worked up the courage to approach his future self. He regarded the sleeping man with unusual somberness.

"Is that really me? I mean, I'm a total dreamboat and everything, but I look...I don't know, _scary_."

He averted his eyes and, in doing so, spotted something on the ground. Frowning, he bent and picked up a small white object.

"What the heck?" he blurted. "Is this...a tooth?"

He showed it to Cindy, and she frantically waved it away.

"Eww, Sheen, put that down!"

Unswayed by her reaction, he turned to Aurora and displayed his find. "Hey babe, this yours?"

"Sheen!" shouted Cindy.

"Whaaat? I'm just _asking_! If it's not hers, I wanna keep it as a souvenir."

"Ugh, what is the matter with you? You can't just waltz out onto a battlefield, pick up someone's tooth, and ask to keep it! God, you are SUCH a freak!"

To their astonishment, Aurora began to laugh. It started off as a slow, weak chuckle, then slowly built into a ringing peal of genuine mirth.

Cindy put her hands on her hips. "Great. Now you've sent her into hysterics."

Still laughing, Aurora draped a wrist over her eyes. "Unbelievable. You guys are _ridiculous. _You have absolutely no sense of reality whatsoever." She released a sigh and let her arm drop back onto the floor. "I could learn a thing or two from you..."

Somehow, this left Cindy and Sheen feeling awkward, and after an unsure pause they left Aurora's side and joined Libby, Carl, and Goddard. Clustered together, and trying not to look too closely at the bloodstains and other debris which littered the ground, the four kids waited for Jimmy and Future Carl to return. Emptied of the sounds of vengeance, the chamber became like a room in the dead of night. Future Libby and Future Sheen slept peacefully, their breaths rising and falling in unison, while DJ dozed under the blank slate of insentience. Aurora stared skyward, and the uncharacteristic look of serenity on her face gave her a strange kind of beauty. A soft glow seemed to hang around her smudged, bruised face and her tangled hair. And, when she smiled to herself a few moments later, it was with the gentle sadness of one remembering a life well-lived – though nobody saw her as she shut her eyes, and drifted off into a cold and pallid silence...

* * *

D': ...more soon! As always, comments/speculation/flattery makes me a happy panda!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	45. Fallout

I'm finally back from New Zealand! Anyway, sorry for the wait, as usual.

Chapter illustration: (remove spaces and swap . for (dot): acacia thorn . dev iant art(dot)com/art/Trio-of-Epic-April-168071733

* * *

**Chapter 45: Fallout**

Just outside the minefield, a black ship dropped out of hyperspace, its twin green engines glowing like two cat eyes in space. Inside the cockpit of her personal spacecraft, Lady Jaya squinted suspiciously into the blackness. To her left sat the Corporal who had roused her from her slumber hours earlier, and to her right stood the mute Gorlock warrior Tartune, who was using one of her scimitars to inflict tiny gashes on her forearm. The rows upon rows of scars which ran down both her arms attested to the frequency of this practice.

"Corporal," began Lady Jaya, "I want you to run a scan of the surrounding area. Check for any ships orbiting the planet."

"Y-yes, my lady..."

He fiddled with a couple of knobs on the arms of his chair, and a 3-D rendering of the _Shahada _popped up on the screen in front of them. Lady Jaya leaned over him to inspect his findings, and he stiffened.

"I recognize that vessel," she muttured. "That's the _Shahada_, Nav Aksha'at's ship. I never did approve of that boy...far too cavalier. Try hailing them, Corporal."

"I just did, your Ladyship. There was no response."

"Life signs?"

"None that I can detect," he replied. "There is no one on board...well, no one alive, at least."

Lady Jaya pondered this for a moment before turning to Tartune. "I want your opinion, Tartune. Given that the ship we're on is a scouting vessel, should I call in the other Generals for backup, or should I continue to monitor the situation from here?"

Tartune sheathed her scimitar, then made a series of gestures with her hands. Presumably Lady Jaya understood, for she nodded in agreement.

"Yes, yes, very good. Exactly what I would have done. I believe another promotion may be in order for you soon."

Tartune smiled psychotically from behind strands of violet-black hair, and Lady Jaya turned back to the Corporal.

"Our problem might take care of itself, but if it does not, and Aurora and the others return to the _Shahada_ alive, we will be waiting. We will remain here for the next several hours to observe, and if any other ships appear, we will hail them immediately. If they fail to respond, open fire. We will keep the hyperdrive warmed up in case we need to retreat. Did you get all that, Corporal?"

"Yes, your Ladyship."

"Good. Now, we wait..."

...

Elsewhere, Jimmy and Future Carl had made their way to the reactor core. Deep in the underbelly of the main generator, the two rescuers scoped out the situation. Still reeling from the shock of seeing his beloved pet imprisoned in so cruel a manner, Jimmy attempted to make an objective assessment of Future Goddard's condition. The dog's legs and tail had been removed, and his cube-shaped torso had been inserted into a custom niche. Color-coded wires branched out from nodes on his cranium and connected to a series of switchboards, which in turn relayed information to other parts of the core. A series of unidentifiable devices pulsed along Goddard's back, while clear pipes circulated coolant around the sensitive electronics. Only the robot's head was clearly accessible from amid the tangle of cables and structural supports.

Jimmy exhaled despairingly. "This technology is so beyond me, I don't even know where to start. I mean, _maybe_ if I had a month and a team of engineers, I might be able to figure it out. But trying to safely remove him on the fly like this, without time or equipment...it's next to impossible. Ugh, why did I assume that this would be a simple fix? I'm such an idiot!"

"Just calm down," soothed Future Carl. "I'm sure you'll think of something. You always do."

"I appreciate the encouragement, but this is just too complex for my current understanding of computational engineering. I mean, there is _one _thing that might work, but it's a long shot..."

Goddard whined listlessly. "Grr...aow aow..."

"Hey boy! ...Hey there!" Jimmy stroked the dog on the head, trying to comfort him. Future Goddard's reaction – a whimper and an enervated lap from his robotic tongue – filled Jimmy with melancholy and self-loathing. "It breaks my heart to see you like this, Goddard. I am so sorry. _So _sorry. I'm trying my best, but I'm afraid that I'll damage you irreparably if I simply sever the connection and remove you."

Future Goddard emitted a series of barks, growls, and yelps, and Jimmy listened attentively.

"Hmm, I see..."

Future Carl watched, mystified, as Future Goddard continued to communicate with the boy in their cryptic private language.

"Arf arf!"

"Exactly. That's why it's such a difficult procedure. I'd be relying too heavily on assumptions about my future self – assumptions that may or may not be true. I'm going to have to say no."

"Bark grrr grr..."

"But Goddard, it's too big a risk!"

"Bark bark bark bark!"

"What's he saying?" asked Future Carl.

"He says his AI is integrated into the base's mainframe," replied the boy genius. "It's not under his conscious control, but his AI is what's directing a lot of the base's defense systems. The power input is overloading his sensors, and it's causing him a lot of pain. He says he wants me to try to extract him immediately, even if I'm not confident I can do it safely."

"Is it possible?"

"Well, yes...in theory. The method I have in mind has about a fifty-fifty chance of succeeding. If it works, we'll get him out, at the expense of the base's defense network. If it doesn't work, we could crash several other essential systems and seriously damage Goddard's hardware. Worst case scenario, we risk killing him and destroying the life support and pressure regulators, causing a base-wide chain reaction of implosions and eventual catastrophic systematic failure."

"Oh. Well that's not good."

"No kidding," returned Jimmy. "Not exactly the kind of coin toss I like to make."

"What will you do?"

"I don't know," he sighed. "I _think_ I can pull it off, but how will I live with myself if I screw up, and Goddard pays the price for it?"

"How will you live with yourself if you don't try?"

Jimmy closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "I just..."

"You can blame me if something goes wrong," offered Future Carl. "I was the one who insisted that you do it. It's OK. I can bear the guilt so you won't have to."

"This isn't 'hot potato', Carl. Guilt isn't something you can just toss to another person like a ball. Whatever decision I make, I'll have to live with the consequences."

"I was just trying to help..."

"I know, I know. I'm not angry at you. This is just a really difficult decision. I feel like I'm at a crossroads in my life or something. Pick the wrong route, and I'll be forever stuck with the repercussions."

Future Goddard gave a few short yips, and Jimmy smiled wistfully.

"I know you wouldn't hold it against me if something went wrong, Goddard. I admire your resolve, and I understand your desperate yearning for freedom no matter what the cost. Still, I can't help but feel like haste makes waste in this particular situation. I think we should wait until DJ's cured, and then ask for his help..."

Future Goddard thrashed from side to side as much as his limited mobility allowed. "Grrr! Arrrf!"

"But Goddard –!" he protested.

Future Carl broke in. "Jimmy. I know you want to do what's best, and believe me, I would be devastated if something bad happened to Goddard. But I have faith in you. I can tell that you're doing the best you can, even though none of this is your fault. I wish I had one tenth of your guts."

Jimmy sighed again. "Well, it's never too late to acquire guts, if you'll pardon the phrase. You can start by finding me some wire-cutters and a wrench, since I suspect this is going to be a bit of a hack job."

"I'm on it."

The redhead jogged off to find the tools, and Jimmy turned his attention to the robotic dog. He stroked him on the head, whispering apologies and reassurances. "We'll have you out of there soon enough, boy...for better or for worse. Just hold on a bit longer, OK?"

...

For the rest of the kids back in the control room, the first indication that something was wrong came in the form of a subtle tremor.

"Guys?" murmured Cindy. "Did you feel that?"

Libby nodded. "Ya. The ground just moved. Kinda felt like a small earthquake or somethin'."

The room shook again, more noticeably this time, and Carl attempted a nervous rationalization.

"Maybe there's an undersea earthquake nearby...there _are_ earthquakes on alien planets, right?"

Sheen bounced up and down excitedly. "Or maybe DJ cloned a T-Rex and decided to keep it as a pet, and now it's rampaging ever closer to this very room, drawn like a shark to the smell of human flesh! Come on, it's totally possible! If he can take over the galaxy, he can sure as heck bring a T-Rex back to life!"

Cindy face-palmed. "Sheen, did you undergo some sort of surgery to get your head that far up your butt? DJ does NOT keep a dinosaur on his base!"

"Oh yeah?" he shot back. "How do you know? Weirder things have happened to us."

"Actually, Cin," said Libby, "he's got a point. Weirder things HAVE happened to us."

"Ugh, _fine_, but that still doesn't prove he's right! There could be all sorts of other explanations for the shaking we just felt."

The room fell into the grip of a third tremor, and this one was so strong that the ceiling rattled and flakes of plaster rained down on them.

"OK," swallowed Libby, "that was scary. I think we should probably wake the others before this gets any worse."

Cindy agreed. "Good idea. If you take Libs and older Sheen, I'll take Aurora."

With Sheen and Carl in tow, Libby headed over to where the pair were still asleep on the floor. Libby knelt and shook her older self, while the boys gave Future Sheen a good motivational kick.

Future Libby stirred, moaning a little. "Wh...what happened?" Her eyelids fluttered, then flew open. "Libby! Guys! Oh thank God, you made it! Is everyone all right?"

"It was a close call," replied her younger self, "but I think so. We brought the antidote so Aurora could give it to DJ. He's passed out now, but I think it worked. Everything's gonna be OK."

The injured woman breathed a sigh of relief, then closed her eyes. The room began to shake once more, and she lurched upright. "What was that?"

"Uh, actually," said Libby, "that's why we're wakin' you up. Somethin's goin' on, but we're not sure what."

Future Libby rolled over onto her side and then hobbled to her feet, wincing as her hands contacted the floor. Libby got a nasty fright when she caught sight of the huge bloodstain on the front of Future Libby's dress.

"Girl," she blurted, "what happened to you? You look like you took a knife to the chest!"

"In a manner of speakin'. It was Sheen."

"Wha–? Oh no he DIDN'T! I'm gonna kick his –"

"Don't worry," assured Future Libby. "I already did." She gestured toward Future Sheen, only to gasp when she saw that the boys were attempting to rouse him. "No guys, don't! He's not himself!"

Her warning came too late, however. Future Sheen rolled over, slowly coming to. "Owww...jeez, Libby, you got me good..."

Sheen, apparently over his earlier misgivings, wasted no time getting right up in Future Sheen's face. When the latter opened his eyes, he saw the boy hovering in his field of vision, and he blinked twice.

"Uh-oh, this can't be a good sign."

Future Libby pulled Sheen back and stepped in front of the two boys, brandishing a hastily retrieved square of metal. "Stay behind me, you two. Before I knocked him out, he was under Dictator Jimmy's control. He's extremely dangerous."

Future Sheen wiped his forehead. "It's OK, Libby. Being unconscious reset me. I can feel it. I wouldn't recommend a full-on hug, but for the most part I'm back in business."

She lowered the makeshift weapon. "All right, but just so you know, if it looks like you're gonna go for round two on the crazy, I'll clock you right in the face again."

He groaned. "Fair enough..."

Taking this exchange as a go-ahead for further harassment, Sheen pushed Future Libby out of the way and dashed toward his future self just as he was sitting up.

"I can't believe I'm finally meeting you face-to-face! This is just like my favorite scene from Ultralord Episode 122 part 2, 'Upgrade to Villainy'!"

Future Sheen frowned. "You mean the one where Robofiend Build 1.1 meets up with Robofiend Build 1.2, and they join forces with Ultralord to stop the diabolical Dr. Zorthnax?"

"That's exactly the one!" exulted Sheen. "I can't believe you remembered!"

"Some moments in television are so epic that they stick with you no matter what." Future Sheen got to his feet, then paused, touching his cheek with a frown. He stuck his finger into his mouth and dug around, only to withdraw it with a look of dismay. "Aw crap! Where'd my tooth go?"

He turned a slow circle, scanning the ground. Sheen let him sweat for a minute before pulling out the missing item with a grin.

"Looking for THIS?"

"Sweet! You found it!"

He extended his hand toward the boy, but instead of giving it back, Sheen clutched his souvenir tighter and shied away. "Hey, hands off pal! Finders keepers. It's mine now."

Future Libby planted her hands on her hips. "Sheen, don't be ridiculous! Give him back his tooth!"

"Ridiculous? How am I being ridiculous?"

Glaring, she snatched the tooth away from him and placed it on Future Sheen's waiting palm. She closed his fingers around it, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry I whacked you so hard. I mean, you _did_ kinda deserve it, but I didn't mean to knock out your tooth."

He shrugged. "Eh, don't sweat it. I've got extras." She went to pull her hand away, but he didn't let go. "Besides, I can think of at least a dozen ways you can make it up to me..."

Future Libby looked momentarily flustered, and her younger self rolled her eyes before calling back over her shoulder.

"Hey Cin, ask Aurora what we should do about the quakes, would ya? She's the one who knows the layout of this place. Maybe she's got some info we don't." When Cindy didn't answer, Libby swung around with a frown. "Hey Cindy, did you hear me?"

Cindy slowly turned her head to look back at them. When they saw the look on her face, their good humor vanished, because it was immediately clear that something was wrong. Cindy responded, and the note in her voice hit them like a bucket of icy water.

"Guys," she choked, "Aurora is..."

No further explanation was needed. All five of them sprung up and rushed over to where Cindy was crouching with two fingers on Aurora's wrist. Tears gathered in Cindy's eyes, and she blubbered out the words.

"I...I can't feel a pulse. I tried to wake her up, but she's not responding..."

"Move!" Future Libby shoved Sheen and Carl out of the way. She knelt beside her friend, barely able to speak for the lump in her throat. "Aurora? Can you hear me?"

Aurora laid there lifelessly, the skin beneath her bruises cold and tinged with a bluish pallor. Future Libby shook her, and Aurora's head flopped listlessly to the side. Seeing this, the others drew back.

"No way…" breathed Libby. "This isn't happening…"

Future Libby shook Aurora again, and a note of hysteria crept into her voice. "I know you're hurt real bad, but you gotta pull through. You hear me? Stay with me, Aurora!" She put her ear down by Aurora's mouth, listening for breath, only to jerk away in frustration. "I can't tell if she's breathing or not. All I know is, she needs medical attention, and fast!"

Desperate for some sort of solution, Sheen called to the others. "Quick! Does anybody know CPR?"

"I don't think that'll do much good, Sheen," said Libby softly.

"Well we gotta try something! We can't just throw our hands up and say 'well, that's that'!"

Another quake rocked the room, and the air creaked with the sound of cracking cement and straining metal. Steel supports snapped off the wall and shot out as deadly projectiles; Future Sheen knocked one out of the way before it could reach them.

Future Libby nearly fell over. "Damn it! All this bumpin' around is gonna aggravate her condition! We can't just leave her here on the floor, but I'm afraid we'll make her injuries worse if we try to move her..." She tugged on her braids. "I don't know what to do! Even if we _could_ move her, I can't think of a safe place to bring her. This whole base is booby-trapped. Nav and April are missing, older Carl and Jimmy aren't here to help..." She broke off. "Jimmy, you son of a –!"

She jumped up and charged over to the Dictator where he slumbered on the ground.

"YOU!" Bending over, she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him repeatedly. "You were the one who did this to her – now you have to save her! Don't you dare let her die! WAKE! UP!"

She let go, and he sagged to the floor, unresponsive. She jumped back up, angrier than they had ever seen her.

"I know you're in there! Don't ignore me!" Future Libby stomped on him with her bare foot, a gesture that would've been almost comical if not for the situation. "She risked everything to save you! And now, when she needs you most of all, you're not here to save her? You owe it to her! You owe it to all of us!"

"It's no use," said Cindy bitterly. "He's comatose. You could drop a bomb five feet away and he wouldn't wake up."

Future Libby kept right on kicking him, heedless of Cindy's statement, and the failed comedy made the futile effort all the more pathetic. "Don't take her away from me again! You already stole her once, and it took me ten years to get her back. Don't send her where I can't follow, Jimmy! I don't want to go back to being alone!"

Though she was facing away from them, the others could tell when Future Libby started to cry. She kicked DJ one final time, and he rolled over onto his back, still unconscious. Livid and bereaved, she stood in silence for a moment, shoulders trembling.

"Libs?" prompted Cindy.

Future Libby wiped her eyes before turning around. When she addressed Future Sheen, her sorrow had been replaced by a cold ferocity. "I can forgive almost anything, but I can't forgive this. If Aurora dies, I want you to rip him to pieces. Nothing quick and simple, either. Make his death as gruesome as you possibly can."

Future Sheen cracked his knuckles. "Gladly."

Everyone was so busy gawking at Future Libby's reaction that none of them noticed when, in the background, Aurora stirred and opened her eyes. The color and warmth had returned to her face, and even though she still sported countless cuts and bruises, she looked demonstrably healthier than she had after the fight. Grimacing, she propped herself up on one elbow, just in time to catch the tail end of the proceedings.

"Um...guys?" she asked, after a pause. "What are you _doing?_"

Future Libby caught sight of her mid-sniffle. "A...Aurora? You're..." It took a second to sink in, and then Future Libby charged over and flung herself onto her friend. "Aurora! Aurora, you're OK!"

Completely forgetting about her own injuries, Future Libby smothered Aurora in a crushing hug and planted dozens of kisses on her face. While the former gushed affection, the latter merely did her best to put up with the onslaught.

"OK, OK," said Aurora, patting her, "I love you too. Just take it easy, will you? Give me some breathing room…ow, my shoulder…" She fell back to the ground again, and the kids crowded around her worriedly. Irritated, she shooed them away. "Chill the hell out, guys. I'm fine. My body just shut down for a little while so that my internal injuries could be repaired. Normally my suit relies on my emotions to heal me, but this time I was too far gone. My organs were starting to fail...I had to take drastic measures."

"You could have told us beforehand!" said Cindy angrily. "We thought you were dying!"

"Well, for a few minutes there, I was. When my suit runs out of normal energy to feed upon, it takes directly from my life force instead."

"Huh?" said Libby. "What to you mean, your life force?"

"You guys know that my suit requires energy and willpower to function, right? Well, its healing abilities are an extension of that. It has no problem fixing more minor injuries, but when I'm mortally wounded, the healing feature becomes kind of like a deal with the devil. With no regular energy left to use as fuel, it shifts to a reserve supply: my lifespan. In order to bring me back from the brink, it has to drain away whole years of my life."

Cindy cupped a hand behind her ear. "I'm sorry, _what?_ Would you mind repeating that, please? It sounded to me like you just said that in order to save yourself, you had to _forfeit__part of your__lifespan. _As in, 'sorry babe, it was nice knowin' ya, but it's early curtains for you'."

"That's right," confirmed Aurora.

Cindy's mouth snapped shut. Future Libby swallowed before posing the obvious question in a fearful, hesitant stammer.

"How...how many years did you lose?"

Aurora sat up. "It doesn't matter. I've already lived longer than I ever thought I would. Losing a couple of decades is nothing to a person who thought they'd be stone cold in a week's time. I always knew I was going to die young, Libby...at least now, I'll die _less_ young. Right now, I'm just happy to be alive at all."

They were all too frazzled to know what to say to this. Future Libby continued holding onto her friend's hand as Aurora stiffly got to her feet, and only released it upon the blonde's insistent tugging. Aurora shook her arms to get the circulation going, then cracked her back with a groan.

"Damn, this must be how it feels to get old. Glad I'll never have to deal with that bullshit."

Future Libby regarded her sadly. "Aurora..."

The rumbling, which had misleadingly died down for a few minutes, now picked up again in earnest. A huge crack shot across the ceiling and branched down the far wall, and sparks began to fly from the room's security cameras. Aurora nearly toppled over.

"What in the...?"

The shaking intensified, and the magnitude of the destruction increased by leaps and bounds. A generator exploded in the hallway outside, blowing open the door and venting soot into the main chamber. The cracked ceiling opened and dumped rubble onto the unprepared group below, who ducked and covered as best they could.

"What on God's green earth is going on?" exclaimed Aurora. "What's causing this?"

Libby picked a piece of wire out of her hair. "We were hopin' you could tell us..."

Another round of lurching tremors ripped a hole in the wall, exposing hidden electrical equipment and bundles of plastic tubes. The chemical fire that had broken out in the hallway began to spread into the control room itself, and Aurora forced herself to suppress her rising panic.

"Where the hell is everybody? We have to get out of here!"

She looked down at the unconscious Dictator Jimmy, the ground shaking violently beneath her feet. A shower of sparks rained down on her, and she threw up her arms to shield herself. Stumbling back, she caught a glimpse of a lone figure standing in the doorway.

"Who's there?" she coughed.

Another violent quake sent most of the group sprawling. The kids hit the floor as Future Sheen whirled to intercept Future Libby's fall. They both crashed to the ground, and Future Sheen crouched over her, using his body as a shield against falling debris. Aurora staggered forward, hacking on the smoke. A rush of flames sent a wall of heat slamming into her, but she pushed through it, arms half wrapped around her face. She squinted ahead, and as the fumes cleared, her heart leaped.

"April! You're safe!"

She dashed forward, flushed with relief – only to falter when she got a closer look at the silhouette in the door's gaping mouth. April stood as if made of stone, the contours of her face shimmering and twisting behind the curtain of intense heat. Sparks danced around her, settling on her skin like gilded snowflakes. Her helmet was gone, and her shorn purple hair floated lightly about her face in the firestorm. Her body, which peeked out here and there from between torn clothing and numerous wounds, was slick with sweat. Her lips were shut tight, and two streams of purple blood ran from her nose.

Aurora took a step back. "April?"

There was no response. April's eyes were cast in shadow, two black holes in her skull beneath floating, angelic hair. She took a tiny step forward, and her knee gave out. She caught herself against the frame of the door, and Aurora drew her breath in sharply. April's whole body quivered as she struggled to pull herself up. She moved forward, picking her way across the field of debris as if in slow motion, pillars of flame twisting around her. She kept her head down, eyes hidden, staring fixedly at something clutched in her right hand. She stopped a few feet in front of Aurora, then raised her gaze. Her eyes, abnormally clear and focused, were full of murder.

"He's dead."

Aurora rushed over to her friend. "April! What happened to you?"

"Nav. Nav is dead." April uncurled the fingers of her right hand, revealing Nav's silver earring.

Aurora's shocked cry was genuine. "No! Oh, God! April! April, I'm so sorry! How did…?"

April's hand shot out and seized Aurora by the wrist. The bones made a crunching sound as April tightened her grip, and Aurora gasped in pain. A single drop of blood rolled down April's cheek from a gash near her hairline. She slowly swiveled her head until her eyes rested on the motionless form of the Dictator.

"_He_ killed Nav," she said, her voice quavering. "He shot him right next to me. The only reason I'm alive is because Nav tricked him into thinking I was already dead. …Nav, why did you save me? Why did you rob me of my chance to die honorably in battle, fighting alongside you for the people I love? How could you leave me behind to languish like this?" She released her grip on Aurora and stumbled toward DJ, as if in a trance. "All the people that the Dictator has killed…all the lives he has ruined…and yet we came here to save him? To let him live? What were we _thinking_?"

A support beam fell from the ceiling and landed on the floor beside April. She stepped over it as easily as one would step across a small puddle, never shifting her gaze away from him.

"He will not get away with it. He will not. The plan does not matter. Nothing else matters now. He HAS to die…"

Her voice rose during the last sentence, and all at once she plunged ahead at a full run. She vaulted over a smoldering chunk of metal and, in one smooth motion, dipped low and grabbed hold of a piece of fractured piping. Its razor sharp edge gleamed in the firelight as she sprinted past the kids, who stared on in shocked helplessness. With a cry she slashed the weapon down, aiming for DJ's heart. Aurora was quicker. She intercepted the blow, catching the metal in one glowing hand. April looked up at Aurora in astonishment; Aurora's eyes were cold as her fire spreads across the makeshift weapon. Molten ooze dripped off of it, and April snatched back her hand, burned.

"Aurora! What are you _doing_?"

"Perhaps you've forgotten the reason we came here," returned Aurora.

The Gorlock woman bared her teeth in a snarl. "And perhaps _you_ have forgotten where your true loyalties lie! That monster killed your comrade of six years, and yet you stop me from avenging his death? Have you gone mad?"

"Calm down, April…"

"No! Stand aside!"

When Aurora refused to budge, April pulled out a small knife from a scabbard hidden in her boot. She lashed out, but Aurora dodged it, grabbed her assailant by the shoulder, and disarmed her. April slammed into her friend, and Aurora reeled back. She quickly recovered, only to find April's blaster weapon staring her square between the eyes. April's arm trembled wildly.

"You are my best friend, Aurora, but you are acting foolishly. Stand down. I do not want to hurt you."

"Then why don't you try putting the gun down…"

"If he lives, Aurora, I cannot. I cannot live with the knowledge that the monster who killed the man I love will go free. You do not understand, Aurora…you cannot possibly understand!"

An electrical panel on the wall exploded, releasing a stream of blue-green sparks. Aurora strode forward out of it, hair swirling and tangling with the neon flames.

"You think you're the only person who's lost someone they love?" she yelled savagely. "You think you're the only one who's suffered? Did you forget that he killed my family, took away my best friend, _destroyed_ my planet? That I was locked in a cell for three weeks while he did whatever he wanted to me? Don't you lecture me about suffering!" Aurora's hair blew in the whirlwind caused by the fire, sweat dripping down her face. "I've had enough of it, April! Enough! I want to fix this crap heap of a reality – I want make amends, and he's the only one who can help me do it! I've come this far, and I'm not turning back now. This is the only course of action left…and I'll kill _anyone_ who gets in my way!"

April's sharp intake of air was lost beneath the roar of the destruction, and she took a tiny step backward. Aurora lifted Dictator Jimmy's lifeless form from the floor and slung him half over her shoulder.

"We're leaving, April," she commanded. "Move."

April crouched defensively, grip tightening on her weapon. The two women were at an impasse, feet planted firmly, conviction burning in their eyes.

"How can you DO this?" seethed April. "Have you no feeling at all? Have you no love for your comrades – do you feel no righteous fury at seeing their pain? He killed Nav, and yet you _protect_ him! How can you side with a murderer over me, your closest friend of the past ten years?"

When Aurora showed no reaction, April cocked the gun and touched the barrel against Aurora's forehead.

"STAND ASIDE!"

"Put the gun down, April." There was a long moment of silence; everyone in the room watched in a state of gut-wrenching trepidation. "I said _put the gun down_, April."

For a second it looked like April was actually going to shoot Aurora. Finally she jerked back and, cursing, hurled away the gun with all her might. With a strangled cry she twisted around and slammed her fist into the side of Aurora's face. Aurora dropped Jimmy, and he slumped to the ground. The Gorlock woman charged at Aurora, punching her again and again, yelling out all the while. Aurora resigned herself to the assault, barely blocking her assailant's punches.

"Traitor! Double! Crosser!" shouted April incoherently. "How could…! After all we've… How could you? How? How could…!"

April's attacks started to lose their ferocity, and it soon became apparent that she was no longer fighting with the intent to win, but rather as a way to release her rage and pain and anguish.

"You do not even care! Heartless, unappreciative…! Nav always cared about you more than me! Always! He would have…he would have done anything for you! He came here because of you! And he died because of you! And you DO NOT EVEN CARE!"

Aurora cudgeled April's neck with her wrist, knocking her friend unconscious. She let the alien woman slide to the floor, then looked at the others, her expression pained.

"I had to. I had no other choice. I've _never_ seen her lose it like that. She was in hysterics. She'll come to her senses later…" The room rattled violently. "… that is, if we manage to get out of here in one piece."

"What are we going to do?" panicked Cindy. "We wasted so much time that it'll take a miracle just to get us out of the main chamber, yet alone out of the base and off the planet!"

As if on cue, Jimmy and Future Carl picked that moment to storm into the room. Choking on the thick, toxic smoke, Jimmy called out to the others.

"Hold on, everyone! We're going to get us out of here!"

Cindy fanned the air in front of her face, trying to get a clean breath. "Neutron, what the heck is going on? What did you guys DO?"

Jimmy skidded to a halt. "It was an accident, but there's no time to explain...we need to get the teleporters online before this whole place collapses in on itself!"

Future Carl flicked a tiny, concealed switch on the side of the console closest to the door, and the outward appearance of the controls immediately changed. The blinking Christmas light setup fizzled and winked out, revealing a series of sleek touch-screens and clickable holograms underneath.

"Ah, that's a neat trick," admired Cindy. "I always took DJ for more of a touch-screen kind of guy anyway."

"I'm logging in now," explained Future Carl, "but I'm going to need a few minutes to work this out. Hang on, everyone."

While Future Carl administered to the matter at hand, Jimmy rested his hands on his knees and let his head droop down between his legs. He wheezed as he dragged in contaminated air. In the chaos, only Cindy noticed that his shoulders were trembling with more than just exhaustion. At first she couldn't put her finger on what was wrong...then she realized that Future Goddard was nowhere to be found.

"...Jimmy?" hesitated Cindy. "What happened back there? Where's Goddard?"

Still rasping, he managed a three-word response. "Worst case scenario..."

She frowned, but before she could ask for clarification, Future Carl interrupted. "Uh, guys...we have a bit of a problem."

"No shit, Sherlock," shot back Aurora. "The base is falling apart around us!"

"That's not what I'm talking about! I mean, maybe the sensors are just giving a false reading because of all the destruction, but the computer is showing a lone Gorlock warship hovering on the outskirts of the minefield."

"Who CARES? We'll cross that river when we come to it. In the meantime, just get us out of here!"

His hands flew over the screen, manipulating pages, selecting options, and filling in information. "I'm working on it! Planet-to-ship beaming is very complicated...I'm not even sure I remember how to do it."

"How's this for motivation: figure it out, or I'll shoot you."

Future Carl fumed, red in the face. "Oooh...! Just...SHUT UP!"

He jammed his palm down on a holographic button that had only just appeared on the console, and the kids began to experience a pins-and-needles tingling sensation running in from their extremities. They looked down to discover a stream of glowing violet particles rising from their skin, suffused like mist in a beam of light.

"Hee hee, that kinda tickles..."

Carl's giggle transformed into a gasp, and even Sheen felt a rush of panic.

"Sweet mother of Robofiend, it's pulling us apar –"

He never got to finish his sentence, for the room's occupants – Future Carl by the controls, April on the floor, the kids scattered about – dematerialized a second later. They rocketed upward out of the base, traveling at lightning speed through the ocean, the atmosphere, and into space, to their destination on board the _Half Life_. The sensation was akin to being plunged into dark, fast-moving water: there was no air, and no way of telling which way was up and which was down.

They re-materialized in the cockpit, a dim purple halo still floating around the edges of their vision. Within moments they got their bearings. The cockpit proved to be a spacious, high-tech compartment completely lacking in any appearance of perniciousness. The room's scientific air made it hard for them to believe that mass murder could have ever been carried out from within its confines. Aurora, shaken up by the transport, ignored her queasy stomach, bent over, and hauled up the comatose Dictator. She proceeded to drag him toward the front of the cockpit, struggling to heft his weight now that her adrenaline rush had receded. Nobody came forward to help despite her obvious difficulties in maneuvering him; by contrast, they all hung back, as if avoiding a contaminant. Aurora did not miss the irony of the situation – that she of all people should be the only one willing to touch him. With grim humor she dumped him face-first onto the control panel, then paused to catch her breath, one hand on the small of his back to prevent him from sliding off. After a pause, she summoned enough energy to yell for assistance.

"Carl, get your scrawny butt over here and help me with this!"

Future Carl looked puzzled. "Help you with what?"

"We need to get this bird up and running," replied Aurora. "I'm assuming you know what sort of security Neutron has – DNA? Retina scans? Password? He may be lying here like a useless chunk of meat, but as long as we have his body, we should be able to fly this thing. So get over here and fire her up."

"I-I'll try my best," he stuttered, "but I've never actually flown before, and I really have no idea how to work the –"

"Never mind that_,_ Carl. I'm not asking you to fly it. I can say without ego and without exaggeration that I am one of the top five pilots in the galaxy. All you have to do is help me gain access to the controls, and I can take it from there."

"Oh...if you say so..."

While they attended to getting the engines online, the others were finally able to heave a sigh of relief. Free from the threat of imminent destruction at last, Jimmy sank to his knees in front of Goddard and buried his face against the robot's head. His body quivered, and when Cindy approached hesitantly, Jimmy made no attempt to hide his tears.

"Neutron?"

Jimmy nuzzled his pet. "Goddard, Goddard. I'm so sorry. I'm so glad you're still here with me. Promise you won't ever leave, please..."

Cindy crouched next to him and rested a gentle hand on his arm. "Neutron, what happened? Are you all right?"

Without lifting his head, he blurted out a tearful explanation. Though half of his words were muffled beyond recognition, Cindy had no difficulty understanding the story.

"I messed up, Cindy. I messed up bad. ...in the reactor co...I thought I...make it work, but I was... I killed my own creation, my own best friend. He's gone. Really gone. I watched him power down right after I...and I couldn't...I've never seen anyone die before. I know he's technically just a robot, and...know MY Goddard is still fine, but I saw what it'd be like to lose him...I tried my best, I really did..."

A cold lump formed in her throat. "Sometimes our best isn't good enough, Jimmy. That's just the way life is. The important thing is that _you're _OK."

He pulled away to look up at her, wiping red-rimmed eyes in wonder. "Somehow your complete lack of tact is comforting in this situation, Cindy. I can't imagine why, but it is."

"What can I say? I've got talent."

To her surprise, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, resting his head on her shoulder.

"He was suffering, Cindy, so I rushed to get him out. Deep down I KNEW better, but I couldn't stand the sight of him in pain. I wanted to help him so much that I threw reason to the wind. My love killed him, Cindy. I loved him so much that I gave in to his begging, when I should have insisted that we proceed logically and cautiously. What do you do when your love kills someone?"

Cindy didn't know what to say to a question like this, so she merely hugged him tighter.

"They say that love clouds your judgment," she whispered. "Maybe they're right. Maybe we'd all be better off without it."

There in the crook of her shoulder, he felt the warmth of her skin against his lips. "I don't want to love."

As her fingers moved up his back, Cindy could make out the shape of his shoulder blades beneath his blue suit. His intense vulnerability, coupled with the physicality of the moment, left her dizzy and flustered.

"Neither do I, Neutron."

Libby, Sheen, and Carl all noticed this breach in standard Jimmy-Cindy conduct, but just this once, they refrained from saying anything. Instead they turned to the unconscious April, who was lying bruised and ignored in the middle of the floor.

"Shouldn't we like, move her, or –" began Libby.

All at once the ship came to life, and the kids looked up sharply. Aurora dropped DJ and took her place inside the pilot's chair. As she prepped for departure, an icon began blinking on the dashboard.

"We're being hailed..." she announced.

She opened a communications channel, and Lady Jaya's transmission popped up on a holographic screen.

"This is General Hinabatagan Jaya of the – Aurora! Is that you?" She broke off, flabbergasted. "Are you _piloting_ the Dictator's ship?"

"Not yet. But I will be as soon as I get the hyperdrive powered up."

"Aurora, this is an outrage! Do you know what our allies would say if they learned of this? I demand a full explanation of your behavior and that of your crew, followed by the surrender of any captives you may have taken while on P24-505. If the Dictator is in your company, I order you to bring him onboard my ship for immediate incarceration. Never mind the fact that you disobeyed your superiors, or that you cost us both alliances and funds with your little plan – if you did in fact manage to defeat the Dictator, it is imperative that you turn him over at once. We will discuss the matter of your punishment at a later date."

"And what if I were to tell you to go take a flying leap?" returned the blonde.

"Should you refuse, I will have no choice but to use force."

Aurora laughed contemptuously, and the sound was not a pleasant one. "Haha! Like hell you will! Do you honestly think your puny Gorlock scout vessel poses ANY threat whatsoever to the _Half Life_, the most powerful ship in the galaxy? I knew you were getting on in years, but I had no idea you'd already gone senile!"

"Aurora!" fumed Lady Jaya. "I INSIST you comply with my instructions!"

"You 'insist'? Boy is that ever rich, considering your current position. If I wanted, I could gut your pathetic tin bucket and leave you all to suffocate in space!"

Lady Jaya, seeing that negotiations were not proceeding as desired, took a moment to re-evaluate her strategy. She squinted past Aurora at the cockpit's other occupants – however, she was more interested in who _wasn't_ present than in who was.

"Where is April?"

Aurora's eyes shifted ground-ward. "Well, right now she's catching forty winks on the cockpit floor."

"She is unconscious?"

"Actually, she looks pretty comfy. I'm kind of jealous."

Lady Jaya fixed Aurora with a stern glare. "Is April badly injured? When and where do you intend to release her? Who knocked her out?"

Aurora lifted her chin haughtily. "That's none of your business."

A vein throbbed in Lady Jaya's neck, and her voice rose to a shout. "Tell me what is going on! That's an _order_!"

"I'm sorry Lady Jaya, but I no longer take orders from you. And if you'll forgive my forwardness, I think I speak for all of us here when I say: SOD OFF, you old hag."

With this pronouncement, Aurora severed the connection. Lady Jaya and her cronies could only watch on, helplessly, as the _Half Life_ passed unscathed through the minefield and coasted over to where the _Shahada_ waited in orbit. The _Half Life_ transported the much smaller Numerian ship into its cargo hold, then vanished into hyperspace the instant the bay doors closed. The Gorlock soldiers stood motionless, and a long time passed before Lady Jaya spoke.

"Corporal, I want you to patch me through to Strych Enterprises ASAP. Strych may be an insufferable twit, but he has money and connections, and right now we are in need of those assets."

"Forgive me, your Ladyship, but what exactly should I say to him? Everyone knows that Strych only listens when there is something in it for him."

"My call will interest him, let me assure you," said Lady Jaya. "Tell him that I have something profitable he can sell to the media...something _very _profitable."

* * *

Man, I swear, everyone blubs in this installment. What a bunch of sissies! Hopefully you all took the events of this chapter a bit more stoically than the characters did. ;)

I have another chapter ready for Christmas! :D

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	46. Live Through

As promised, here's the next installment! Aurora has some zingers in this one XD

* * *

**Chapter 46: Live Through**

Future Jimmy drifted on the edge of consciousness, lost in a haze of shifting shadows and gray pain. A female voice resounded in the spacelessness, and he found himself reaching out toward it. Dazed, he floated forward through the fog. Somewhere ahead, the gray changed to white, and he broke the surface, gasping for air…

Future Jimmy blinked, and for a moment the world flashed to life in a panorama of blinding light. His vision faded, and he blinked again; this time, the room swam into view as a collection of fuzzy, jumbled shapes. Fighting nausea and a splitting headache, he tried unsuccessfully to make sense of his thoughts. Numbers, words, images, sounds, and emotions tumbled together in his mind, joining together and breaking apart in meaningless disarray. He attempted to speak, but no words came, so he propped himself up on one elbow and peered out at his surroundings. He was lying on a small hospital bed in what appeared to be a sick bay of some kind. His gaze wandered past the rows of monitors, medical equipment, and empty beds, and stopped when it reached a row of huge windows on the opposite side of the room.

Beyond the glass, a massive star burned with an intensity half divine. Silhouetted against the celestial backdrop was the form of a woman. She stirred at the sound of his movement and turned around to face him, and he felt her hidden stare. At last she stepped forward, and light washed the blackness from her features. He found himself locked in Aurora's gaze, and in an instant all his memories came rushing back to him.

"You're awake…" she commented.

He slumped forward, burying his head in his hands. His eyes strained down through the gaps in his fingers, unseeing, as all the sights and sounds of the past decade overran him. The pleas of his victims echoed in his ears; he could feel their hands seizing him, grabbing for his throat, pulling him down. In a burst of white light, the universe unfolded in his mind – stars, planets, cities, people – and his memories fell through it like rain, each one dealing a blow more excruciating than the last. Open-mouthed, he drew his knees to his chest as unspeakable horror coursed through his veins.

"I…I killed all those people."

Aurora didn't respond. After a pause she moved forward, her footsteps echoing into space as she cleared the distance between them. She came to a stop next to his bedside and stood there, motionless. He looked up, and she found herself staring into bottomless, haunted eyes, the torment within them bordering on madness.

"I destroyed all those lives. I murdered my own family… Oh my _God_…" He covered his face again, his entire body clenched in turmoil. Suddenly his eyes snapped open, and he straightened and whirled to face Aurora. "I killed your parents, took away everything you ever knew. I stole your best friend and left you to die. I captured you on your eighteenth birthday and chained you up like an animal in a cell, and then I…Oh _God_…"

She regarded him coolly, scanning him from bottom to top. He stared back, lips trembling, his expression panicked.

"SAY SOMETHING!"

When she didn't respond, he sprung up, offering his wrists. "What are you waiting for? Kill me! Please, you have to be the one to do it!"

"Calm down. You've been in a coma for the past 12 hours. The feelings of shock and agitation are normal."

He gaped at her. "_Normal_? What are you _talking_ about? How can you stand there and speak to me so calmly? After what I did to you, you should torture me, humiliate me, make me pay…"

Aurora looked him square in the eye. "I didn't kill you before, and I won't kill you now. I didn't risk my life and sacrifice my career to save you just so you could die on me now. I have a different kind of justice in mind for you."

"You're…_protecting_ me? Aurora! You can't! I have to die. I have to pay for what I did. All those people…they need justice!"

"I'm not protecting you. Calm down and I'll explain."

He backed away from her. "No...This is wrong!"

"Don't try anything stupid, Neutron…" she said warily.

"No…this isn't right…I can't get off this easily…" Future Jimmy's gaze shifted over to the tray of sharp medical implements on the nightstand next to the bed. "An existence as depraved as mine cannot be allowed to continue!"

He lunged for the scalpel sitting on the tray, but she anticipated his action and intercepted him. The tray clattered to the floor, and killing shards of silver clinked against the tile and spun off into the far corners of the room. Aurora crashed onto the bed as she wrestled him for control of the scalpel. After a long, soundless struggle, she wrenched it free and slammed him against the headboard, pinning his body beneath hers. She raised the scalpel threateningly, every muscle quaking as she tightened her other hand around his throat.

"Kill me," he urged. "Do it now!"

She bit her lip, expression unbearable.

"Kill me!" he shouted.

"NO!"

Aurora shoved him violently against the headboard for a second time, then grabbed him by his suit-collar and hoisted him upright. She held his face inches away from hers, expression twisted in anger.

"Are you such a coward that you're going to take the easy way out?" she asked. "Just kill yourself rather than face up to what you've done?"

"After what I've done, I don't deserve to live! And if you won't deal me justice, then I will. You can't stop me!"

"Wanna bet?"

In response, he raised a finger and put it against the side of his head. "This suit's power is every bit as good as a gun. And if I purposely inflict damage, my healing abilities won't activate. One shot and it'll all be over."

Aurora swung her free arm down, holding the scalpel against her own throat. She stared down at him wildly, a desperate challenge written on her face. "If you shoot yourself, I'll kill myself too. Look into my eyes. I'll do it. You know I will. Do you really want another death on your conscience? MY death?"

They stared fiercely at one another, each waiting for the other to back down. At last Future Jimmy's expression changed, and he lowered his hand. As his desperation drained away, his features sank into puzzled resignation.

"Why are you doing this?" he muttered weakly. "I don't understand…"

She threw him back against the headboard, still leering down at him. "I told you I wasn't going to let you die, and I meant it," she said coldly. "Justice will be served, but not by your death. You're going to live – and you're going to atone for what you've done. You're going to rebuild what you've destroyed and fix what you've broken. For every life you've taken, you're going to make sure one is saved. For every crime you've committed, you're going to stop one from happening. Only you can reverse the damage you've done, Neutron. And I'm going to make sure that you spend every waking moment, from now until the day you die, making the universe a better place for everyone. I don't care who or what gets in our way – I won't stop until we've evened the score. Got it?"

He held the spot on his throat where her hand had been. She leaned forward, fist clenched threateningly, and repeated her words.

"_Got it_?"

He shrank back with a nod. Several moments passed before he spoke again. "You're…right," he said gradually. "Suicide _would_ be taking the easy way out. I should have to live with what I've done. I can never fully make amends, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try."

She relaxed, then eased herself off him and sat back on her heels. He traced his finger along a crease in the blankets, avoiding eye contact. At last he spoke in a small voice.

"What should I do, Aurora? How can I even _begin_?"

"You're going to start by explaining something to me," she said. "I've got the right to know. Why me, Jimmy? Why was I your target? There HAS to be a reason. Don't give me any of that crap about testing your limitations and purging your weaknesses. It's much more personal than that. So tell me, Neutron, why did you come after me? That day, back on Earth…that day, in the prison cell…why?"

"I…I don't know if I can explain."

"Please try."

He looked away. "Being controlled by the megalomanium was…I don't know how to put it into words. It was like…there were two of me, living in the same body. Well, to be more precise, there was _me,_ and then there was _him._"

Aurora watched him, the lines of her face thrown into sharp relief by the filtered blue light of the sun.

"He had complete and total control," continued Future Jimmy. "I was an observer in my own body – locked in a cage and unable to act. At first, when I was initially exposed to the Megalomanium, I tried to fight back. That day in Retroville, when I came to see you…you remember, right? I tried to overpower him. That was a mistake. He reacted much more strongly than I'd expected – and after that, the real me was completely sealed away. He left you to languish and die on Earth, and I became a prisoner in my own mind, confined by an enemy who was and yet wasn't me. I was paralyzed, forced to witness my own transformation into something I abhorred."

He paused to bury his head against his knees.

"It took nearly two years before he let his guard down enough for me to regain any hold over my own actions. But my time in silence wasn't wasted. I may not have been able to act during those two years, but I watched intently. I came to understand his motivations, the way he thought and the way he behaved. I knew I couldn't challenge him directly – if I did, he'd simply shut me down again. So, instead, I set out on the slow, systematic process of manipulating my other side. The deceit had to be sustained perfectly at all times. Even one unguarded thought could ruin everything. When your enemy is inside your mind with you, when your enemy _is__you_, every second of every day…I can't even describe it. It's like being locked in a never-ending game of chess with an unbeatable opponent who knows what you're going to do before you do it."

He took a deep breath.

"The only way to manipulate him was to _become _him, to tell him only what he wanted to hear. I asked to watch him work, to observe as he committed atrocities. I watched myself perpetrate unthinkable crimes. I forced myself to let the thrill of power wash over me, to drink in the adrenaline rush. To breathe in the screams like oxygen. It took every ounce of willpower and focus I possessed not to recoil in horror at what I saw – or worse yet, succumb to its allure. For _years_ I kept it up, slowly testing his boundaries, finding new ways to influence my own actions. Subtly, covertly, I worked toward implementing my plan."

"Your plan?" echoed Aurora.

He nodded. "Through sadism, I was able to achieve some measure of autonomy. I whispered to him, told him to keep you alive. I described all the ways that we could make you suffer. And he loved it. He thrived on the power dynamic between you and I. Watching you struggle, utterly powerless…it was so exhilarating."

The lines of Aurora's mouth drew tighter, but she remained silent.

"But I had a different motivation," he went on. "You may find this difficult to believe, but it was ME who captured you on your eighteenth birthday, and it was me who allowed you to escape. In the prison cell…that was me too. It was horrible and unforgivable, but I _needed_ to make you suffer. I had to. I used what I knew about you; I used _you._ I needed to make you hate me…because I needed you to kill me. I couldn't beat him from within myself, so I picked the person who stood the best chance of being able to. That was my plan from the very beginning…through each action, I worked to bring the two of us closer. It's the reason I've pitted myself against you all these years. I thought that, in the end, you'd be the one to kill me."

He laughed weakly. "It figures that the _one_ thing I counted on, the one thing I took for granted, would prove to be the one thing that didn't happen. You were right back on the planet when you said I'd miscalculated. It never even occurred to me that you wouldn't try to kill me."

"I'm so sorry about Nav," he said after a remorseful pause. "I wanted to stop myself from killing him, I really did. But if I had interfered, _he_ would have silenced me again. It was a calculated sacrifice. _I_ needed to be there during our fight to make sure that the Dictator went after _you._ The Dictator would have killed Libby and Sheen on the spot if I hadn't been feeding him all the reasons to make it into a game – to hurt you, to pull you apart, to watch you bleed. The Dictator would have killed all of you. There's no way he would have made the mistakes that he did had I not been bombarding his senses from within. I was so close to succeeding, too. The element of surprise was on my side…I was going to attack him at the last minute, when I had taken you back to the cell and we were alone together. I had it all figured out – what I would have to do to provoke you into firing the kind of shot that would be irreparable. I knew the mental struggle would only last a few minutes, but that would have given you more than enough time to strike the final blow. It would have worked. It _should_ have worked. I should be dead."

Neither of them moved for a moment.

"So…it wasn't really _you_ who was responsible for the Dictator's crimes?" hesitated Aurora. "You were a victim too?"

"No," he insisted. "I _was_ responsible. You don't understand. I've described the situation as if it were a duel between two separate consciousnesses, but in reality, it was much more complicated than that. It's an impossible concept to adequately explain in words. He is me, and I am him. He's still here…only now, since coming in contact with the antidote, we've switched positions. Now I'm the one in control, and he's the one in the cage. But he's still here. I can feel it. And as long as that's the case, I'm a danger to everyone around me."

Aurora gradually turned her face away from him. "Everyone has evil inside them, Neutron," she said quietly. "It's that little voice that whispers into your ear when you're afraid. It tells you to pick on the kid with glasses, or to lie to your parents, or cheat on a test. It's the voice that laughs at other people's pain; it's the rationale that convinces you to turn your back on someone in need. It's the force that squeezes your finger on the trigger. It makes you bloodthirsty, and it turns your own blood cold. It makes it so you don't care about anyone or anything. It steals away your heart and soul and then inhabits the empty places where they once were, until it becomes such a part of you that you can't live without it."

She examined her hands. "Can I tell you something? Once, when I was sixteen, I killed an alien in a bar. I can't even remember why I did it. When I shot him, everyone was running and screaming. I just stood there, covered in his warm blood, waiting to feel something. But I didn't. I killed another sentient being and felt absolutely nothing at all."

She looked up again, and they stared into each other's eyes. "I wasn't arrested because I was part of the resistance. I abused my position and used it to get away with murder. And that's nothing compared to the kinds of things I used to do while I was under orders. After a battle, our squad leader used to line up the captives, and I would walk along the column and shoot them all in the back of the head. Mercenaries, I told myself. Aliens. Their lives don't matter. But that doesn't change the fact that I was killing people. So tell me, Neutron…how are you and I any different? All these years that I've been on this crusade, I've been no better than you. I've only cared about one thing: getting revenge. In my mind, the end always justified the means – and I committed so many crimes with that rationalization in mind."

He shook his head adamantly. "No. Even if you made some mistakes, you were doing the right thing. You had to stop me, Aurora. You were fighting for justice."

"Maybe," she shrugged. "I try to tell myself that sometimes. Still, I can't help feeling like I was fighting for my own personal vendetta. If it hadn't been YOU I was up against…if some random alien had been the one committing acts of genocide across the galaxy, would I have lifted a finger? No. My goal was never to promote the greater good. Like you said, this was about you. It's _always_ been about you."

Her lips broke into a slow grin, and his mouth went dry.

"You know what's funny?" she mused. "You ruin my life, kill billions of people, destroy half the galaxy, and in the end you _still_ turn out to be a better person than me."

She shifted her weight forward and slunk toward him on all fours. He inched away from her, until he was pressed up against the headboard.

"H-h-how am I better than you?"

She didn't answer the question, but merely smiled harder at his reaction. "How does it feel, Neutron? When I was your prisoner, you could do anything you wanted to me. Now the shoe's on the other foot. How does it feel to be completely helpless, to be completely in MY power? Now _I _control everything that happens to you. _I _control whether you live or die. Isn't it _exhilarating?_"

Her words dripped with sarcasm, but underneath there was a glimmer of genuine satisfaction. She laughed as beads of sweat coalesced on his face and neck.

"What's the matter, Neutron? You seem nervous. Power trips aren't quite as much fun when you're not the one enjoying them, are they?"

She slid her hand up the front of his chest, and he looked down at it, open-mouthed. He instinctively grabbed her waist to throw her off, and this reciprocity drove home the sensuality of their situation. Aurora's smile vanished, and she sat up abruptly. Without a word, she extracted herself from her compromising position and swung her feet over the side of the bed. Rising clumsily, she turned her back to him. She yanked off her hair tie and held it in her mouth while she rearranged her ponytail. Future Jimmy stared at the blankets, cheeks burning furiously. Neither dared to speak, and the moment dragged out into a painfully long silence. The tension was broken at long last by a soft knock at the door, and Aurora answered it with relief:

"It's open!"

Jimmy poked in his oversized head, and Goddard scurried into the room.

Future Jimmy's eyes widened at the sight. "So I wasn't hallucinating back at the base! I remembered seeing younger versions of us before, but then I assumed it was some sort of psychological after-effect of the antidote. Who is that child? What is he doing here?"

"It's a long story," sighed Aurora, "and one that I'll tell you in detail at a later date. In short, he's a version of you from another universe – a universe where you were never exposed to the megalomanium. The antidote was his idea. Truth be told, you never miscalculated. It never would have occurred to me not to kill you either."

The two geniuses gawked at each other, separated less by distance than by a thousand unspoken deeds. Aurora wasted no time getting right to the point. She put a hand on one hip and leaned against the wall.

"What's this about, Neutron?"

Jimmy shook his head to break the spell. "Uh, right. Goddard woke me up about an hour ago, when he picked up a series of TV broadcasts from a planet at the edge of the system we're currently occupying."

"There's an inhabited planet in this system?" she asked. "How did we miss that?"

Jimmy fidgeted. "Err, we didn't bother to check. I think everyone was too tired. We all just sort of conked out after we made the hyper jump from P24-505."

She looked angry for a moment, then waved it away. "Go on."

"It seems that the entire Galactic Cable Network is abuzz with reports about…well, about us. Lady Jaya must have informed the press about the antidote plan, because now every talk show host and live news anchor in the spiral arm is talking nonstop about it. The media has inflated this into the biggest scandal since…well, I don't even know what. Practically everyone in the entire quadrant with a ship is out looking for us. The Galactic Police are up to their ears in tip calls and sightings. The public is outraged – not because the Dictator once again got off scot-free, but because _you_ were the one who helped him do it."

Aurora pointed at herself. "Me?"

"Yes, you! Anyone with a cable hookup knows about you and the other resistance fighters, Aurora. As we saw back in that repair shop, you're pretty famous. The people thought you were on their side. For the past eight years you've fought for them – and now that you've apparently changed sides, they all feel betrayed. I mean, the story is so sensational, of course the media is having a heyday. They've made you into the traitor of the century. The public wants blood, and they want it now. And I think it would be stating the obvious to say that an angry populace is one of the worst enemies to have in our situation. We might be inside the _Half Life_, but since we're the good guys now, we can't go around shooting civilians. We're at a tremendous disadvantage."

Aurora showed little reaction, and Jimmy continued. "Goddard, play broadcast 5."

Goddard gave two answering barks, then opened his mouth and projected a video into the air. A female news anchor glowered back from the footage; she was recognizable as a member of Meldar's race.

"We have just received confirmation that the bounty on Aurora Vortex, human female and former ally of the resistance, has been set at 90 trillion _debakles,_" began the alien anchor. A fuzzy picture of Aurora flashed on the upper right hand corner of the screen. "This officially promotes her to the rank of _7th__Samarkandi,_ which was formerly occupied by Numerian master thief Nav Aksha'at, who is valued at 75 trillion. This marks the first time in Galactic history that a female has been counted among the _Samarkandi._ The decision to add Aurora to the list of the seven most wanted criminals was made after a tribunal of high-ranking officials determined that, in light of her uniquely dangerous abilities, access to deadly technology, and connections to underworld criminal organizations, she poses more of a threat to society than the former _7th__Samarkandi._ We here at Grebb News Channel 8,765,033 will keep you posted on the situation as it develops. Please stay tuned after these messages…"

Goddard clamped his jaw shut, ending the video. Jimmy again waited for some sort of reaction, and when she merely met his eyes levelly, he stepped forward in entreaty.

"Well?" he prompted. "Aren't you upset?"

"It was not entirely unexpected."

"What do you mean, 'not entirely unexpected'? Don't you realize what this means? The lives of everyone aboard this ship are now in jeopardy! We can't stay here, Aurora, and you have nowhere that will take you in! Don't you understand? You're going to spend the rest of your life on the run! You'll never be able to stop looking over your shoulder, never be able let your guard down. You'll _never_ have a home again!"

He punctuated this insensitive outburst with a sweeping gesture. Future Jimmy cringed in the background, but Aurora remained unaffected.

"You're overreacting," she remarked. "I haven't had a home in years, Neutron. Besides, I knew something like this was going to happen from the very beginning. It's the price I'll have to pay for acting according to my own convictions – haha, or rather, _your_ convictions. Either way, don't pity me because of the choices I've made in my life. I deserve whatever comes my way."

Jimmy bit his lip, close to tears. "Aurora…"

Her expression softened a little, and she leaned forward and placed her hands on his shoulders. For the first time since they met, she spoke to him with genuine kindness in her voice.

"Don't feel bad, Jimmy. If it weren't for you, I never would have been reunited with Libby at all. The Dictator and I probably would've killed one another, and there's no telling what would have happened to April and Nav. I could never have brought myself to say this before, but thank you. You've given me a second chance."

"It just seems so unfair, you know? I mean, you just found Libby after all these years, and now you're going to lose her again! And April? What's going to happen between the two of you?"

She retracted her hands and settled back against the wall, breaking eye contact. "I don't know, Neutron. I don't know the answers. I can't figure it all out at once."

Jimmy missed the cue that she had emotionally withdrawn herself from the conversation, and he continued babbling on. "The way I see it, we need to get older Libby and Sheen back to Shangri Llama, April back to Planet Gorlock, and my friends and me back to our home universe. No idea where skinny Carl wants to go, but we have him to consider too. And then there's the matter of Nav's sister, since I assume she's the one who stands to inherit his ship full of contraband..."

Future Jimmy addressed his younger self. "I know this is rather sudden, but if you'll let me, I'd like to help you find a way back to your universe. It's the least I can do. The logistics of travel in the multiverse are a tad complex, however, so we should probably get started as soon as possible."

"Whoa, whoa," broke in Aurora, "let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet, OK? Plus, 'a tad complex'? Seriously? Talk about the understatement of the century."

Jimmy attempted a defense. "I think he meant that –"

"Never mind," she interrupted. "You two will have plenty of opportunity to play mad physicist once we've held a meeting with everyone else. I know you genius types like to run off and do your own thing without informing anyone, but now isn't the time for recklessness. If what you say is true, and citizens across the galaxy have declared open season on this ship, then we need to make some decisions. After we've made a plan, _then_ you guys can get to work on implementing it."

Jimmy and the former Dictator exchanged glances.

"You know," grinned Jimmy. "I don't think I've ever told you this Aurora, but you're kind of awesome. Of course, I'm one step ahead of you. I figured you'd want to fill the others in on what's been happening, so before coming here I told everyone to assemble in the cockpit. Shall we?"

Aurora cuffed him on the head, and he protested with a laugh. "Hey! That's child abuse, you know!"

"Quiet, Thing One," she chastised. "Having you and Thing Two in a room together is just too damn weird. Let's clear out of here before my sense of reality gets any more warped."

* * *

Only like 2 or 3 chapters left to go! D: :D Comments appreciated, as always!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	47. Rundown

Finally, a new installment! I would've updated sooner, but this semester has been super hard ^-^'

LOL, Aurora is such a bitch in this chapter. I had more fun writing for her here than I've had in quite a long while. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these measly 8 pages. I wish I had more for you guys.

* * *

**Chapter 47: Rundown**

Meanwhile, inside her quarters aboard the _Shahada, _April sat huddled on her bed with blankets drawn tightly around her. The only source of light in the room was the small laptop that rested on the bedspread just in front of her. The subspace connection light flickered green; Lee's face gazed out at her sympathetically from the rectangular confines of the screen. The voice that issued from the speakers failed to sync with the choppy, low resolution movements of his mouth, but the sentiment contained within it was plain to hear. Lee's eyes grew glassy as she finished up the sad tale of the past 16 hours.

"I am so sorry, April. I am so sorry about Nav."

April buried her face against her knees. "It all happened so fast. Everything has fallen apart. Oh, Lee. I am so lost. I do not know what to do."

"I am so sorry, April. I wish I could remove your suffering and take it upon myself."

"How shameful," she sniffled, wiping her eyes forcefully. "I cannot stop crying. I have not cried since I was an infant. I am sorry you have to see me like this."

"April, you know I would never judge you," he said gently.

She drew her knees tighter against herself. "All of my life, I have been a soldier. I have survived countless battles, seen countless comrades die. So why does this hurt so badly?"

"You have never lost someone so close to you. You loved him, April. There is nothing worse than losing the people you love."

"He was just so…alive, you know? One minute he was there, laughing and cracking jokes, and the next…" She pushed her knuckles hard against her eyes to curtail the renewed flow of tears. She shook, anguish and rage and exhaustion all churning within her. When she spoke again, a snarl danced on the edge of her voice. "I am so angry, Lee. I feel so…betrayed. I know it is not as simple as that. As I told you before, I know that Aurora did what she had to do. I understand why she stopped me from avenging Nav's death – but it does not matter. It does not change the way I feel. I will never be able to look at her the same way again. Why does it have to be that way? After everything we have been through together?"

"Do not feel guilty, April. Your anger and sense of betrayal are perfectly justifiable. You are hurting."

"I just cannot stand the thought of her _protecting_ him. I feel like she chose the Dictator – the man who made her life a living hell – over me, her closest friend. Why did she do that, Lee?"

A fresh stream of tears erupted, and she angrily brushed them away. Lee's sorrowful eyes stared back at her from the other side of the computer screen.

"Oh April…"

"I feel so discarded, so unimportant. I wish none of this had ever happened. Aurora should have killed him, like we originally planned. Then Nav would still be alive, and the three of us would be being honored as war heroes right now, not hiding out in this patch of nameless space. I am light years away from a home that I cannot return to, on a ship that moment by moment reminds me of everything I have lost. What am I going to do, Lee?"

"You must not despair, April. I have not told you my side of the story yet."

"Your…side?"

"Wenna and I were able to clear your name."

"What? Wenna? What are you talking about?"

"It is a rather complicated story, but I will attempt to summarize. Lady Jaya learned of your departure shortly after you left, but with Wenna's help I was able to delay the ensuing search long enough to buy you some time. While the guards were occupied, I planted fake evidence to prove that you had been taken by Aurora and the others against your will. I then sabotaged the communications relay in the airship control tower, grounding all ships on our system. By the time the problem was discovered and repaired, you had enough of a head start to guarantee your safe escape."

April sat in shocked silence. Lee held up a bandaged arm and laughed nervously.

"There were a few…incidents along the way," he said, "but it was worth it. I am glad that you are safe."

Her surprise did not abate. "You mean that you…that I will not be held responsible for this? I can…come home?"

"That is precisely what I mean. I staged it so that your father – who as we both know is a highly decorated General and friend of Lady Jaya's – would confirm your innocence. I suggest that you do not worry about the particulars. Let it suffice to say that there is no doubt in his mind or in Lady Jaya's that you are completely innocent. You have been cleared of all charges. You can return home at any time."

"Lee…"

"It was the least I could do for you, April. You are my very best friend in the whole world. I would not be able to live with myself if something happened to you."

Her eyes began to water again, but this time with tears of gratitude. "Oh Lee… I will never be able to thank you enough. You do not understand what this means to me. I…I just want to come home. For the first time in my life, I do not want to fight anymore. I just want to come home."

Someone knocked on the door, filling the stillness with a soft _rat-a-tat-tat_. April threw off the covers, swiftly wiped her eyes, and strengthened her posture before responding.

"Come in…"

The door creaked open half an inch, and Future Carl peeked inside. "Um…sorry to bother you but…um…we're having a sort of meeting in the cockpit."

April favored him with a steely glare, and he lowered his gaze.

"I'm sorry about what happened. I hope you can forgive me for the part I played in it."

He shut the door swiftly, and April turned back to the computer screen.

"What is happening?" asked Lee.

"I am not sure. But it seems Aurora is gathering everyone together. Perhaps the Dictator has woken up."

Lee's eyes flashed a little, and April glanced nervously over her shoulder.

"Lee, would you…would it be all right if I brought you with me? It may mean that I am weak, but I cannot abide the thought of going through this alone."

"By all means! Take the computer with you. If anyone so much as threatens one hair on your head, I will hunt them down, rip them limb from limb, and feed their carcass to Tolly."

April smiled a little in spite of her sadness. "You would not last two minutes in a fight against any of them, and you know it. You are an appalling warrior."

"Fair enough," he laughed. "But the sentiment is true nonetheless."

She smiled down at him gratefully. "I know, and I appreciate it, Lee. Thank you."

He rubbed the back of his neck as she scooped up the computer and carried it with her out of the room. She exited the _Shahada_ and made her way out of the cargo bay. April traversed the long passageway to the _Half Life_'s cockpit with as much dignity as she could, holding her head high, dried blood still caked around the gash on her forehead. As she approached the sliding doors that lead into the bridge, she gradually slowed to a halt.

"Go inside," encouraged Lee. "I will be right there with you the whole time."

Taking a deep breath, April stepped in front of the door, and it glided open. She stepped boldly into the room and was greeted by Cindy, Libby, Sheen, and Carl. She breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the center of the cockpit. Future Libby, garbed in a new red chrysanthemum dress, beamed at April from her seat against the far wall. Future Sheen's head rested on her lap, and his sleeping breaths rose and fell peacefully. Future Carl sat by himself in the pilot's chair, looking down at his feet. April glanced around, frowning a little in confusion before setting her laptop down on the control panel.

"So…what is the purpose of this meeting? Is the Dictator not awake after all?"

"I dunno," yawned Libby. "Jimmy called this meetin'. He went to go get Aurora a minute ago. Cindy, Sheen, Carl, an' I just woke up, so we have no idea what's goin' on."

The patter of footsteps echoed from out in the corridor, and April stiffened. She turned to face the door, which slid open a moment later to reveal three harrowing figures. Jimmy strode in first, face tight and determined, with Goddard at his heels. Aurora and Future Jimmy followed behind him. Future Jimmy shuffled forward listlessly, one arm slung around Aurora for support, barely able to carry his own weight. His expression was feeble and drawn, and there were dark circles under both of his downcast eyes. The occupants gaped at him, gripped by a mixture of fear, pity, and fascination. Aurora helped him out into their midst, and they all drew back as if a plague had entered the room. Ignoring their stares, Aurora led Future Jimmy toward the pilot's chair. Future Carl hopped up, clearing the way for the man who had up until twelve hours ago been his sole commander. She eased the former Dictator into the chair, where he slumped into sullen silence.

"I can't believe that's _you_," whispered Cindy to Jimmy. "He doesn't look anything like you. He's almost... I don't know, _pretty._ In a creepy, sleep-deprived, sociopathic genius kind of way."

"Well," replied the boy, "ten years of being evil can do that to a – hey, wait a minute. Do I detect an insult in there?"

Cindy crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, Jimmy, did I offend you? Do you want me to tell you that you're pretty too?"

"Err, no, that's not the adjective I would use, but..."

Sheen rested his elbow on Jimmy's shoulder, picking at a piece of food stuck in between his two front teeth. "Don't worry about her, Jimmy. Carl and I think you're pretty – don't we, Carl?"

"H...hwhat –?" guffawed the redhead.

Jimmy smacked his forehead, and Cindy sniggered.

"That's right, Neutron, we're all here for you. Just say the word, and we'll praise you for being the dainty princess that you are."

He jabbed his index finger in her face. "Hey! You're the one who used such an absurd term to describe the Dictator in the first place! That would be like if I turned to you and said "wow, isn't Aurora handsome? She looks nothing like you!" Stop using _your_ idiotic word choice to make fun of me!"

"Haha," chuckled Libby, "he's got you there, Cin."

Cindy's cheeks colored, and Jimmy looked off into space.

"Anyway," he said, "I don't know about you guys, but I've had it with this madness. I want to go back home, where things make sense. Back to where Cindy doesn't shoot flames, Sheen doesn't have tats, Libby wears pants, and Carl is fat."

"Wow" said Cindy, "that is a...surprisingly accurate summation."

Aurora's voice rang out, loud and authoritative, and the kids looked over in her direction. "Circle up, people!" she called. "We have some important items of business to attend to!"

"Her majesty doth summon," winked Cindy. "Come on, you guys. We can argue about stupid stuff later."

They traveled as a group to the center of the room, where Aurora waited, tapping her foot impatiently. Future Libby eased Future Sheen's head off her lap and made her way over to her friend, leaving him to slumber against the wall. Future Carl slunk toward the assembly, and when no one objected to his presence, took a seat next to Future Libby. After a moment he realized that no one else was sitting, and he awkwardly got to his feet again. April joined last of all. She chose the spot next to Future Carl, maintaining a two person buffer between herself and Aurora. Only Future Jimmy remained where he was, doggedly keeping his gaze off the blonde. She ignored his absence and regarded her audience with an expression of wry amusement.

"So," she said, "fun news everybody: tons of people are trying to kill us! The threat isn't imminent, but it does put us in a bit of a quandary. The way I see it –"

"Come on, chica!" interrupted Sheen. "You can't tell me you're afraid of people trying to kill us when we're on board this mother. Have you _seen_ this ship? It's the _Half Life_ for crying out loud! It's like…BWAHH!"

"'Bwah'?"

"Ya, you know! Super huge and powerful! If a bad guy shows up, we can be all like '_Bang zap kaboom'_ and bingo! No more bad guy." He cupped a hand to his mouth to whisper. "Actually, while we're on the subject, I've been meaning to ask – you think I could get my hands on a couple of those guns? You know, just test 'em out on an asteroid or a small moon or something…"

"Out of the question," was Aurora's clipped reply. "And as far as fighting is concerned, it's not really an option. There are bound to be civilians among our hunters, and since the whole point of stopping the Dictator was to prevent more civvies from being slaughtered, we can't go around blasting our attackers out of the sky."

"This ship has a hyperdrive, doesn't it?" asked Cindy. "Why don't we just jump to safety whenever a threat approaches?"

"That's what we're currently doing, Cindy."

"Then what's the problem?"

"We can't all stay cooped up on the _Half Life_ forever," she answered. "We have lives to get back to. And the sooner we get all of you back to those lives and away from this ship, the better." Their attention heightened, she continued. "Think of what I'm about to tell you as...tying up loose ends. We have quite a few things left to resolve, and not a lot of time left to do it in. So let's cut to the chase, people. First thing's first: we're taking Sheen and Libby back to Shangri-Llama."

"But Aurora, I –" Future Libby broke off. She looked over at Future Sheen where he dozed by the wall, then back at Aurora, and she lowered the finger she had raised in protest.

"As soon as that's taken care of," went on Aurora, "we can turn to item number two – April." Aurora tilted her face to the side and spoke with callous bluntness. "You should probably figure out where you want to go, and what you're going to do with Nav's stuff."

April widened her stance and clenched her fists, and the savagery of her countenance matched Aurora's coldness. "That is fine with me. I have a course of action worked out already. You need not concern yourself with my well-being."

"Don't worry, April," replied Aurora icily. "I know you can take care of yourself."

"Aurora," whispered Future Libby, tugging on her arm, "try to show a little more tact! Why are you being so blasé about this? She just lost her fiancé...there's no need to be cruel."

The blonde disregarded her friend's intervention. "Lastly, and most obviously, we need to figure out how the heck to get you kids back where you came from. Fortunately, we have not one, but two geniuses at our disposal to work out a solution. Here's what I'm thinking..."

As this whole discussion was going on, Future Jimmy remained off to one side, absorbed in his own thoughts. After a time, he noticed the laptop next to him on the control panel. It took a minute for him to realize that the Gorlock face staring back at him from the monitor was actually _watching_ him. Lee and Future Jimmy made eye contact, and the strangeness of the whole situation compelled them both to say something.

"So…" began Future Jimmy.

"So…uh…hi there," replied Lee.

"Ya. Hi."

There was a moment of awkward silence. Future Jimmy stared down at his hands, and Lee looked off-screen, fidgeting uncomfortably.

Future Jimmy seized onto the first conversation starter that popped into his head. "So uh…how was your day?"

"Oh, you know," shrugged Lee. "My true love just called me up crying because you killed _her_ true love two months before the wedding. Now I am trying to figure out what to do."

"Oh. I see."

"I feel so selfish for being in love with her…for wishing her to feel the same way that I do. The last thing I want to do is express romantic intentions at a time like this. I need to be there for her, but I cannot change my feelings, even if Nav is dead. I do not know how to act."

"Sorry. I wish I could help."

More silence.

'So, uh…how about you?" asked Lee.

"Today I woke up to discover that I'm an evil despot and mass murderer responsible for the death of billions, including my own family. Shortly after receiving the news, the woman who has been trying to kill me for the past ten years stopped me from committing suicide and then threw herself on top of me in bed."

"Oh. Okay…"

"Ya."

"You must be a bit confused."

"You think?"

A shadow fell over Future Jimmy's legs, and he looked up, startled to find Aurora standing immediately in front of him.

" – hear that?"

"Huh? What?" he sputtered.

"I _said_, did you hear that? Have you even been listening?"

He lowered his eyes, and Aurora surprised him by leaning forward and placing both her hands on his knees. She shifted her weight into her arms, and he snapped to attention, noting the messy hair which slid over her shoulders as she bent closer. With some difficulty he suppressed his historical inclination, which was to retaliate, incapacitate her, and then gloat.

"Hey jackass," she challenged, "let me fill you in on a little secret: I seriously dislike repeating myself. Now do I have your attention, or don't I?"

"Err – I imagine it would be impossible for you to not have it, seeing as you are taking up my entire field of vision."

Only Future Carl was taken aback by this new development. The rest, who by this point were accustomed to Aurora's outbursts, merely waited for the episode to pass.

"Good," she said. "Now repeat after me: 'I will work with Jimmy and Cindy to come up with a way to get the kids back home. I will not rest until I put that gigantic evil brain of mine to good use'."

"Jimmy and Cindy?" he repeated. "Why both? All I need are a few pieces of basic information from the younger me, and I can get to work making a –"

"As I recall, the two of them are responsible for dragging everyone to this universe in the first place, so they'll both have to figure out how to get back home again."

"But I am confident I can do it on my own if I –"

She tightened her grip on his knees. "Enough with the grandstanding, Neutron! Did it ever occur to you that other people might actually know more than you? I know it's a revolutionary concept, but try to let it sink in."

She pushed off his legs and straightened, then turned heel and headed back over to the rest of the group. Lee raised an eyebrow at him, and Future Jimmy motioned toward Aurora.

"See what I mean?" whispered Future Jimmy.

"Oh yes," nodded Lee, "I see it."

As Aurora rejoined the others, Future Carl raised a timid hand. "Um...what about me? You didn't mention me at all in your instructions. What should I do?"

"Gee, I don't know," replied Aurora nastily, "why don't you try asking Neutron? You seem to be very good at that. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to tell you what to do with the rest of your life."

"That's not true! I mean I... well, I just...I've never really thought about it before. What do you think I should do?"

"What do I look like, a bloody career counselor? I don't care what happens to you, Carl. It's not my job to dig you out of your ditch. Figure it out yourself."

"Aurora!" chastised Future Libby.

"If he's got something to say to me, let him say it!" she shot back. "If Carl doesn't like the way I address him, he can very well stand up for himself. Care to give it a go, Carl?"

The redhead didn't respond, and Aurora shrugged to Future Libby.

"See? What's the use of being nice to someone who doesn't have a shred of self-respect? It's a waste of energy."

The young Carl squirmed uncomfortably, and Jimmy reassured him with a couple pats to the back. Future Jimmy got up from his chair, and the kids automatically took a few steps away. He approached the control console, and Lee looked on with interest as he input some information and tweaked a setting or two. He turned to look back at the others, who were watching him quizzically.

"At this distance, it will take several hours to get back to earth," he explained. "I adjusted our course to the shortest one possible."

"Good thinking," said Aurora. "I'm glad someone's being proactive around here. Well, there's no use standing around talking further. Dismissed!"

April wasted no time in clearing out. With military briskness, she strode past the former Dictator and snatched her laptop off the control panel, giving him a dirty look as she did. She headed for the exit with the computer cradled in her arms.

"He did not say anything to upset you, did he, Lee?" she checked.

"Err, no…"

She cast a parting glance at Aurora, only to discover that the blonde had turned to Future Libby and was engaged in a quiet conversation with her. Glaring, April stalked through the automatic doors, which shut behind her with an air of finality. Cindy felt a twinge of sympathy as she watched her leave, but was unable to offer any words of commiseration.

"Are your hands fixed up, Libs?"

Aurora inspected Future Libby's palms which, except for several faded scars, were fully healed.

"As good as new," smiled Future Libby, "thanks to that speed-healing gizmo in the sick bay. I tell ya – of all the junk Jimmy has invented over the years, that quick fix has gotta be the most useful."

"No kidding. I probably wouldn't even be able to walk right now if it weren't for that thing."

"Are you sure you're OK now? I mean, you really pushed yourself to the limit back on the planet, and I –"

"I'm fine," interrupted Aurora. "Although…do you think we could go somewhere and talk? It'll be a couple hours before we get back to Shangri Llama anyway, and I have a small request to make in the meantime…"

"Of course."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Aurora swiveled to see the others blinking at her like a herd of dimwitted pack animals.

"What is everyone standing around for?" she demanded. "Cindy, Jimmy and…well, Jimmy, head for the lab and get to work! Miraculous solutions to impossible scientific conundrums don't happen on their own, you know."

Cindy and Jimmy exchanged glances. They hung back, then at last beckoned to Aurora covertly.

"Aurora, are you sure going with him is, well, _safe_?" questioned Jimmy. "Less than twenty four hours ago he was murdering people!"

"Oh, for the love of – Neutron! You're not going to go all Son of Sam on them, right?"

Future Jimmy stood stiff as a pole, reddening.

"See that?" gestured Aurora. "Does that look like a child-killer to you? The only person you should be afraid of here is _me_. Now get out of here before I lose what's left of my patience!"

Cindy, Jimmy, and Goddard scrambled for the exit, and Future Jimmy followed in their wake, turning a small circle around himself to study Aurora one last time. Once they had gone, she exhaled in exasperation and rubbed her forehead.

"Oy, I tell ya…"

"Um, Aurora?" prompted Carl. "What about us? What're Sheen, Libby and I supposed to do?"

"Is it really that hard to bug-off until you're needed? Entertain yourselves! Jeez!" She grabbed Future Libby by the arm. "Come on, Libs, we're outta here."

Future Libby shrugged at them apologetically before following her friend out of the cockpit. The doors swished closed behind the pair, and the remaining kids appraised one another.

"So," said Libby, "what do you want to do?"

Sheen picked at his teeth again. "I dunno, what do you want to do?"

"Um…older me?" said Carl. "Do you want to hang out?"

Future Carl, who was still standing in the corner, rubbed the back of his neck with a half smile. "Heh, thanks, but I think I'm going to go for a little walk…" He backed toward the exit, grinning ruefully. "But thanks for asking…"

He too disappeared into the hallway outside, and the kids were left alone. After a moment of silence, Sheen placed a conspiratorial arm around Libby and Carl. "So…future me is still asleep in the corner. You wanna go draw weird stuff on his face?"

There was a long pause, then Libby shrugged.

"Ya OK."

* * *

LAWL comments appreciated as usual. Thanks for your patience!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S. _


	48. Under the Same Sky

Finally, another update! My God final exams were rough this year. Sorry if it's not up to snuff...I was never really satisfied with this chapter, but oh well. I need to finish this SOB in the next few months, or ELSE.

* * *

**Chapter 48 : Under the Same Sky**

Aurora and Future Libby sat together on one of the sick bay beds, surrounded by Future Libby's three suitcases, newly fetched from storage on board the ___Shahada_. The latter dug through one of them, pushing aside silk dresses, embroidered gloves, tangled jewelry, and little bottles of paint.

"I know it's in here somewhere…"

Aurora studied the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought, before dropping her head and rolling her eyes. "How hard can it be to find a brush and some scissors? Lord knows you packed enough toiletries to open your own salon." She paused. "Then again, when you have that much crap, I guess it's easy to lose track of things."

Future Libby dug furiously. "Ugh, I could've sworn I put the hairbrush in with the mandolin. Just a second more – Aha! Found you!"

She whipped out a pair of scissors along with an engraved fuchsia brush. Holding them aloft in victory, she tapped the suitcase with her hip, and the top fell shut with a ___whump_.

"So, uh…what did you want me to do again?" asked Future Libby.

Aurora pulled off her ponytail holder, and her long blonde locks tumbled down over her shoulders. "I want you to give me a haircut. I think the back got singed during my fight with Neutron."

Future Libby circled around the bed to Aurora's back. "Hmm," she muttered, inspecting a section of hair. "I'd be happy to fix it up for you, but I don't have a spray bottle to mist your hair, and you're not supposed to cut it when it's dry…"

"Just do the best you can with what you have. I'm not looking for a flawless coiffure here. Usually I just get April to chop it off with a paring knife."

Future Libby glanced down hesitantly at the pair of scissors. "How much do you want me take off the bottom?"

"I want to feel different. Cut it all off."

"But Aurora!" protested Future Libby. "Your hair is so beautiful. I don't want to just hack it to pieces. Besides, you're too tall for a pixie cut. I can give you a trim around the edges, but I…"

"No," said Aurora firmly. "You can leave the front the way it is, if you'd like, but I want the back gone."

Future Libby slid her brush through the tangled strands. "Well you can forget about ___that__. _I'm not cuttin' it short, but I can at least even it out. The bottom's all different lengths."

"Who died and made you queen of my hair?"

"End of discussion!"

Aurora sighed, defeated, and Future Libby silently finished combing out the snarls. She set the brush down on the bed, then rested a hand on Aurora's shoulder.

"You were awful hard on everyone just now, Aurora," she said. "Especially April. I know you're always kind of, um_…____blunt__, _but to me it seemed like you were ___tryin__' _to push her away. Is there somethin' you wanna talk about?"

"No."

Future Libby snipped off a few golden inches without comment. She could not let the matter drop, however, and it wasn't long before she interjected again. "Look, I know you're not a fan of spillin' your guts, but I can tell that something's bothering you, and I…"

"Oh really, is that so?" snapped the pilot. "And what makes you the leading authority on me all of the sudden? Over the past ten years I've spent more time with my local arms dealer than I have with you. What gives you such unique insight into my state of mind?"

"Well, comments like ___that__, _for one," shot back Future Libby. "People don't change, Aurora – not fundamentally. And ever since we were kids, you've dealt with being upset by takin' it out on other people."

Aurora had no rebuttal to offer, so she shut her mouth.

Future Libby continued snipping. "How long will it be?" she asked, after a pause.

"Hmm?"

"Before we see each other again, I mean."

"Oh. Right." Aurora considered before answering. "At the earliest – four or five years."

Future Libby's grip tightened around the scissor handles. "It's not fair."

"I know."

"You're a hero. They should be giving you a medal, not chasin' you halfway across the galaxy, calling you a traitor, tryin' to kill you…" Her voice broke, and she trailed off.

"Libby, I brought this on myself."

"No, no you didn't!" she stomped angrily.

"Libby. ___Enough__."_

Future Libby took off another section of split ends, her mouth sealed into a tight, angry line. After a minute or two of fuming, she redirected the conversation.

"Are you really OK with this, Aurora? With saying goodbye to me for five years, after we just found each other again a few days ago? An' what about Jimmy? He deleted your family, tortured Sheen, took decades off your life…and now you'll be livin' with him? Watchin' out for him? Doesn't that make you feel…I dunno, ___something_?"

"It'll be all right. I can handle myself."

"I didn't ask if you could handle yourself! I asked you to tell me what's goin' on in your head!"

"You really want to know?" sighed Aurora. "The truth is, I don't know what I should be feeling. I don't know if I ___want_to feel anything. My life has changed so much in the past few days… In my wildest dreams I never pictured the future that I'm now facing. I haven't really had a chance to process any of this yet, so you'll have to excuse me if I don't have a ready-made speech prepped for you."

"I'm sorry, Aurora. I didn't mean it like that."

Aurora fished for Libby's hand. "No, I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you. It's just..."

"I know."

Future Libby trimmed off a few more strands, and Aurora looked down at her lap, toying with a severed yellow curl.

"Next time I visit, you'll probably have a whole mess of kids running around."

"Very funny."

"No, I'm serious," grinned Aurora. "I'm counting on you to reproduce. The future of humanity is in your very capable hands…"

Future Libby swatted her chuckling friend on the shoulder. "Aurora!"

"Wh-ha-hat?" laughed the blonde.

"I'd like to remind you that ___I'm_the one holding the pointy metal thing right now..."

Aurora pursed her lips in a restrained smile. "Sorry. I shouldn't be teasing you about something so ___serious_..."

They both broke out giggling, and Future Libby set down the scissors. "Oh, Aurora. This is so hard. I know I shouldn't be grilling you when you don't want to talk about it, but…well, I guess I wanted you to feel the same way that I do, you know? Maybe I'm really the one who's got somethin' bothering her right now."

"Oh?"

"It's just...it's funny. When I was a little girl, my Mom told me somethin' I've never forgotten. She said, 'Libs, whenever you're missin' me, just look up at the night sky. Then, wherever I am, I'll do the same thing, and you won't have to feel alone, 'cause we'll both be lookin' up at those same stars.'"

"Smooth parenting."

"Aurora, I'm tryin' to make a point here!"

"Then make it."

Future Libby quieted. "Well, if you think about it, people on Earth were always connected no matter where they went or how long they stayed there. But when you and I are apart, Aurora, it's different. We're not under the same sky. I can't gaze up at night and feel a connection to you. When you're gone, you're really gone – you're billions and billions of miles away, on some alien planet, looking up at alien stars, and in a thousand lifetimes I could never reach you..."

"Libby..." she sympathized.

"Sometimes I wonder if that is what life's about, you know?" went on Future Libby. "When you're born, you separate from your mother, and as you grow up, you separate from your childhood friends, and then from your family. The years go by, and all the while you become more and more of you and less and less of them, until you reach old age and everyone who made your life meaningful dies and leaves you alone. And then you die, and that's when you're the most separate of all..."

"Jeez Libby, stop being so depressing. Gloomy philosophy doesn't suit you."

"It's just...it's so ___unfair__. _I feel like I'm being made to choose between you and Sheen. Tuyen told me that I'd regain someone that I'd lost; she didn't mention that I'd have to give up someone else in exchange. It's not that I'm unhappy with the way things are turning out. It just seems like, no matter what we do or how we feel, somethin' always comes up to keep you and me apart. Even if we visit each other, we'll still be livin' our lives separately. All the day-to-day adventures, the silly jokes, and the ups-and-downs we could've shared...we'll miss out on all of them. How can we overcome somethin' like that, Aurora?"

"Remember what you said to me, Libby?" asked Aurora. "That you'd always be my friend, no matter what? Well I say, screw time, and screw distance. 'Always' is good enough for me. Life is what it is, so quit moping. After all, it's not like you're getting a bad deal. You get to go back to fancy buildings and gorgeous scenery and a whole butt-load of people who want to cater to your every whim. You'll have holidays and pretty clothes and tasty food and an even tastier crazy-ass mutant boyfriend to provide the perfect dessert for your sumptuous three-course dinner, if you know what I mean."

"Hey!" she admonished. "I'll have you know, Sheen's not even gettin' a KISS till he learns to control himself. So just keep your insinuations to yourself, thank you very much."

Aurora snickered, and Future Libby raised her chin with renewed optimism. "You're right. No use dwellin' on what can't be changed. I should be grateful that you didn't both die, since that easily could have happened."

Aurora patted Future Libby's hand twice. "That's the spirit. Now, if you're done trimming that ___nanometer _off my hair, what do you say we go check on Neutron's progress?"

"Do you really think they've finished already?"

"Of course not. But that won't stop us from going to harass them."

"Actually…would it be OK if I went to check on Sheen?" asked Future Libby. "I left him sleeping there without explaining anythin', and who knows what the kids have been up to this whole time…"

Aurora chuckled. "OK, mother hen, you do what you need to do. I can take it from here."

Aurora stood and brushed hair clippings from her back and shoulders. Future Libby waited for her to finish, fiddling with her bracelets.

"You sure…you sure there's nothing else you want to talk about?" she repeated hopefully. "I'm a real good confidante. If there's anything botherin' you, anything at all..."

Aurora favored her friend with a sad but tender smile. "Thanks Libby, really. I love you and appreciate your support, but what's bothering me right now isn't something you can help me with. I'm afraid I'm on my own this time."

...

Elsewhere, Future Carl wandered the halls of the ___Half Life_, replaying Aurora's comments over and over again to himself. He paced, only dimly aware of his location, footfall after footfall echoing through the winding corridors. Veering a little too sharply, he caught himself against the wall. A pain shot through his abdomen, and he clutched at it through his wrinkled white shirt.

"Ooowww, same old stomach ache... Can't eat, can't sleep, can't do anything but plod forward like a robot." He rested his head against his forearm and released a shaky breath. "Is this what's going to happen everywhere I go? Is this what people are going to see when they look at me? I'm so tired of this. So, so tired..." He pushed away from the wall and pressed onward in a shuffling gait. "I guess it serves me right. When was the last time I ___did_anything? I can't even remember."

Future Carl was so preoccupied with his troubled thoughts that he didn't notice when a shadow stirred in an adjacent corridor. The inky figure emerged and began to follow him, synchronizing its footsteps with his. It drew nearer and nearer as Carl approached another bend in the hall, until at last it loomed directly behind him.

"I wish I were somewhere else. I wish I was some___one _else."

"How strange," said a voice. "I hear a conversation, and yet I only see one speaker. Tell me, Carl – do you always talk to yourself like this?"

Startled, he jumped around to find April lounging against the wall, catlike and self-assured. Her eyes gleamed, and Future Carl got the impression that he had somehow been caught in an ambush.

"April! I didn't see you there..."

"Of course you did not. You are oblivious to your surroundings. If you were lower on the food chain, I would have long since killed and eaten you."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Err, well, I'm a bit distracted at the moment. I have some stuff on my mind, you see."

"I am certain you do. I, too, have some stuff on my mind. Perhaps we can help one another."

April's posture took on a sly, almost seductive character, and he felt a strong urge to flee.

"W-what do you mean?"

She paused, examining her fingernails. "Carl, do you desire my forgiveness?"

He retreated a few steps, foolishly glancing from side to side in the vain hope that someone else might happen upon them and come to his aid.

"Well, um..I..."

"Yes or no. It is not really that difficult a question to answer."

"I-I'm not sure I deserve it..."

She pushed away from the wall. "I am willing to forgive you for your part in this affair, on one condition: I need your help getting back to Planet Gorlock."

"How would I –"

She closed the gap between them, and he took another couple of steps backward.

"I have a plan," began April. "Your job will be to not ask questions, and to simply do as I request until we go our separate ways. Now be silent as I explain."

"OK..."

"Listen carefully: as soon as the ___Half Life_drops out of Hyperspace, we will steal out of the cargo bay on board the ___Shahada_. You will not tell anyone that we are leaving. You will not say any goodbyes. We will simply disappear."

"Disappear? But I –"

"Once we have broken away, we will fly to Mejair, the planet where Nav's younger sister lives. We will spend a day or so clearing the cockpit of Nav's stolen goods, and it will be up to you to make sure Laudya receives them. You will be the one to bring the news of Nav's fate to Laudya, and the two of you will be responsible for setting his affairs in order. I cannot do it; it is too near. Do you understand thus far?"

He found himself nodding before he even comprehended her words, and she continued.

"I will leave Mejair aboard the ___Shahada_and return to Planet Gorlock alone, as if newly escaped, in order to lend credence to the idea that I was brought along on this venture against my will. Only then will I be allowed to have a moment's peace among my people, away from the memory of all this. As for you – stay on Mejair if you wish, or hop on board a freighter bound for somewhere far away. Do all of this for me, and you will be forgiven."

Future Carl bit his lip, mulling it over. "I don't know if it's a good idea for me to just leave without telling anyone. How about this: what if I helped you escape, but then stayed behind myself so that I could –"

"Let me make this perfectly clear, Carl. " She pulled out a gun from a holster at her side, and pressed the barrel against his stomach. "I do not need to play on your guilt to gain your cooperation. I presented the plan in this manner out of charity, nothing more. Make no mistake – you ___will_cooperate, whether you want to or not. Now you can either do what I say out of your own free will, or you can accompany me as a hostage. You decide."

Future Carl instinctively put his hands in the air, shrinking away from the cold touch of the gun. "Look, I know you must be really upset right now, but is this really necessary? You have friends on this ship who could help you. Don't you want to say goodbye to Aurora, or –"

April pulled back the hammer until it clicked. "Watch yourself, my friend. You are digging your own grave. Now this is your last chance: will you help me voluntarily?"

"I don't understand! Why are you doing this? There has to be a better way..."

"Last chance, Carl. Yes or no?"

He looked down at the weapon, then back up at her. He nodded once, and April retracted the gun.

"Good," she said. "Now turn around slowly. Keep your hands where I can see them."

He did as he was told.

"Walk in the direction of the cargo bay," she ordered. "Keep your eyes facing forward, and do not stop moving. I will follow behind at a short distance. Do not get any light ideas about running off."

He stumbled forward. "Uh...do you mean, any 'bright' ideas?"

"That is correct. Bright ideas will not help you. I memorized the layout of the ship from the schematics Jimmy downloaded for us after we boarded. I will find you if you attempt to escape."

"I won't try to escape," he said glumly.

They walked in silence, Future Carl's eyes listless and unfocused. April turned this way and that, scanning the passageway.

"Always this," he muttered to himself. "Why always this?"

"What's that? You have something to say?"

"No. Nothing."

The pair made their way into the cargo bay, where Nav's decrepit wreck of a ship awaited them. Future Carl strained to think of a way to turn the tables on her before it was too late, but nothing came to mind, and April forced him up the gangplank and through the main door. The homey, musty smell of the ___Shahada_took him by surprise, and he almost forgot about her gun as he surveyed the interior of Nav's ship. He tripped over a pile of dirty laundry, and she seized his arm and directed him forward.

"Be quiet, and keep moving. The bridge is just ahead."

April flicked on the light as they entered, illuminating the mountains of loot scattered around the cockpit. Future Carl gazed in awe at the piles of disorganized splendor.

"He did all of this? Nav stole all of this?"

"Nav was the greatest thief who ever lived," she returned haughtily. "All the other ___Samarkandi _were psychopaths, plain and simple. Nav was the only one who made it into their ranks on the basis of something more."

April settled into the pilot's chair. With a sidelong glance, she took out her weapon and proceeded to make a great show of polishing it. He merely stood there, staring at the ground while she lorded it over him. After several minutes of silence, Future Carl still hadn't moved. He showed not even the barest hint of emotion, neither in his eyes nor in his posture, and April's expression slowly scrunched up with contempt.

"Look at you. If I should come upon you in a crowded square, I would mistake you for a statue. What purpose do you serve, looking like that? What a waste." One of the wheels on the chair squeaked as she shifted her weight forward. "You know what I do not respect, Carl?"

Future Carl hesitated, unsure of whether or not to take the bait. After a pause, he replied. "What do you not respect?"

When April met his gaze again, she smiled crookedly and aimed the gun at him. "Weakness," she said. "Cowardice. Uselessness. I could kill you right now and not a single person in this whole universe would shed a tear. Your existence is without value, and yet you are alive, and Nav is not. How does this strike you?"

"If I could trade places with him, I would."

"You say that so flippantly, and yet you are part of the reason he is dead."

"I'm sorry."

She sat there in the chair, spine curved forward, purple bangs hanging in her line of vision. "What a meaningless thing to say. You are pathetic."

His fists clenched involuntarily, and she laughed. "Do you have something to say for yourself, Carl? Care to offer some defense? Or will you stand there idly, as you have stood by for the past ten years, doing nothing?" When he didn't reply, she continued her barrage. "Pfft, I thought as much. You are worthless. Pathetic. A spineless lapdog who does whatever he is told in order to save his sorry hide."

"That's not true!" he interrupted. "That's not why I did it. Jimmy is my best friend, and I..."

"Hold your tongue! This pretense to loyalty is sickening. You aided and abetted the galaxy's worst criminal because you were too frightened to stand up and refuse your orders. I can tell from the way you are acting now. You are a gutless, good-for-nothing waste of sentient life."

Future Carl's eyes flashed. "Does it make you feel better, saying this stuff to me?"

"It is nothing you do not deserve," huffed April "You had ample opportunities to assert yourself while you were working for the Dictator, but you did not. You forfeited your worth as a living being. You are an outcast, wanted by no one. Utterly expendable."

"Then we're two of a kind, April. You're in the same position that I am right now."

"Ridiculous!" she scoffed. "As I recall, you are the one currently being held at gunpoint. Enlighten me, how are we in the same position?"

"We're both here, aren't we? There's a reason it's the two of us alone in this cockpit, and not Aurora and Libby, or Sheen and Libby, or any of the others. We're here because they got what they wanted, and now they don't need us anymore."

"You would do better to hold your tongue, Carl. You have no idea what you are talking about."

"I've worked with the Dictator for the past ten years," he said. "You think I don't know him by now? You think I don't know how little I matter?"

April looked away. "I fail to see how this in any way pertains to me."

"Aurora is your best friend...but are you hers? How long did it take Aurora to start ignoring you after she got Libby back?"

"How did you –?"

"You've been playing second fiddle for a long time. I know, because I'm in the same situation. I know what it's like to be around someone who would rather be with somebody else."

April gripped her gun tighter. "That is enough!"

"I bet Aurora wasn't the only person in your life who secretly saw you as a silver medal," he went on. "Who else treated you that way, I wonder? I guess it doesn't matter. That's just the kind of people we are."

"Stop saying 'we'!" she shouted. "This has nothing to do with me!"

"Anyone with half a brain can tell that Jimmy and Aurora only care about one thing...and we're not a part of that, April." He shrugged. "But you know what? It's OK. I stayed with the Dictator because somewhere, deep down, he was still my best friend, and I felt like I owed him something. In the name of that friendship, I did what I was told for ten years...sometimes unforgivable things. But again, that's why we're so alike."

"You keep saying that, and yet it continues to ring hollow! You have no basis for your claim. You and I could not be more different!"

"I've read Jimmy's data books on the Gorlock military and on the resistance. I know how you people do things. When have YOU ever disobeyed your orders, April? When have you ever thought for yourself?"

"You presume to judge me using information HE gathered while he was out committing mass murder?" she said, aghast. "How dare you compare your self-imposed slavery to my struggle! I am a warrior and a weapons specialist, and I fight bravely. When I slaughter my enemies, I know that the righteous cause is mine."

"You've been a soldier since you were a kid. Did you ever stop to think about whether that's what you really ___want_? You bow your head to your superiors and do what's expected of you. How many people have you killed to rise through the ranks? Have you been keeping track?"

"That is immaterial!"

"Immaterial? Do you really feel nothing for all the lives you've taken? At least when I was helping Jimmy, I knew what I was doing was wrong. Now, the guilt and self-loathing are eating me alive. But you? I've read your file, and from what I can tell, you have no regret, no second thoughts, no sympathy at all for the people you murdered, war or no. Have you ever once reflected on your own life? Have you ever sat down and asked yourself, 'why am___I _doing this?' When it comes down to it, April, you and I have a lot in common. We do what we're told, and we don't matter. Like it or not, that's the truth. We're both just pawns in our own different ways. At least I realize what I am."

She jumped to her feet, and the pilot's chair lurched backward. "You think you are better than me because you feel REGRET? Because you suddenly had a change of heart? Pardon me if I cannot do the same! I do not believe in ideals, Carl, I believe in ___people_; sadly, the people I believed in are now lost to me forever, all because of ___your_master. How easy it must be for you to pass judgment, when you have lost nothing and have nothing to lose!"

Future Carl's voice trembled slightly, as if he was having trouble restraining himself. "I'm not judging you, I'm just trying to make a point. If there's one thing I learned from my years of watching Jimmy work, it's how to push people's buttons. I'm sorry if I'm doing it in a mean way, but I've had enough of you telling me that I'm worthless."

"Ha!" she choked. "You certainly pick a convenient time to grow a backbone. You lecture me on the way I have lived my life, and yet you are the greatest hypocrite I have ever laid eyes on. You are disgusting!"

"I know, and I hate myself. How do you feel about yourself? Or haven't you thought about it lately?"

"Enough!" She struck him on the jaw with the handle of her gun, and he toppled to the floor, losing his eyeglasses and tearing his shirtsleeve on one of the scrap heaps.

She leered down at him. "I need to keep you alive so that you can bring news of Nav's death to Laudya, but as I recall, that job does not require the use of arms or legs. Shall I break them for you?"

"Do you...do you feel any better yet?" He shivered, wiping blood off his lower lip.

April grabbed him by the hair. "No, but I will in a moment."

She slammed his forehead against the floor, then flung him onto his back. He writhed in pain, but she pinned him fast with her knee and touched the barrel of her gun to his neck. Wrenching his arm around, she grabbed his fingers and bent them nearly to their breaking point.

"Snap snap, Carl. First your fingers, then your arms."

"Is that really all you know how to do?" he laughed weakly. "Just fight and threaten and kill? How sad..."

She pushed his index finger back further, and the cartilage made a crunching noise.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH! STOP!"

"That's right," she snarled with bloodthirsty satisfaction, "cry out in pain! Show your true colors, coward. Beg me to stop!"

"AHHHH!"

She cracked the next finger, and then the next, but to her utter bafflement, his cries of agony spiraled into bouts of hysterical laughter.

"AAAAAAAH! AAAHAHAHAAA! Hahahahaha! AhaHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!"

Completely unprepared for this reaction, she jerked away, dropping his hand. "My God, what is WRONG with you?"

"You think this hurts?" he yelled wildly. "You think this HURTS? Ahahahahaha! I've lived with a noose around my neck for a decade now! I've HAD it, April! I'm done being treated like a pushover. From this moment on, I'm done being this person. So either put a bullet in my head, or get off me. Threats won't work anymore."

"I will not be deterred!"

"Neither will I. Now GET OFF ME!"

He shoved her away with all his might, and she stumbled back and plunked down onto the chair. He got to his feet, breathing heavily.

"I'm tired of everyone walking all over me," he panted. "I'm tired of the nightmares and the weakness and the running away. So let me make something very clear: I'm not coming with you because you threatened my life. I'm going to Mejair because I think it's the right thing to do. I admired Nav, and I will do whatever I can to make his passing less sad for his sister. I'll do it because I WANT to, not because someone stuck a gun in my face. Those days are over. Understand? Is that something you can ___respect__?"_

"I hate you," she seethed. "I hate you with every fiber of my being."

He brushed off his shirt. "That makes two of us."

"I hope you die a gruesome, excruciating death, Carl," she growled, baring her teeth. "I hope your wounds grow gangrenous, poisoning you and driving you to madness."

"And I wish you all the best. I hope you lead a long and happy life, and die surrounded by people who care about you."

"Tch. Go to hell."

April turned to face the control panel, and Future Carl's legs began to wobble. Now that the moment had passed, he slumped to his knees. Sniffling a little, he slid his hands over the floor, searching for his glasses.

"I am warming up the engines," informed April in a hostile tone, back still toward him. "I want to be ready to leave the second we drop out of hyperspace."

He replaced his glasses, and his features settled into their usual bland, expressionless state. "Sounds good to me," he said.

* * *

ROFL April pistol-whipped Future Carl XD

So...who was a bigger douche in this chapter? I look forward to your thoughts!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	49. Mad Science

Man, I thought I'd never finish this S.O.B., but here it is at long last. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I packed some extra romance into this installment (even if the beginning of the chapter is a bit boring IMO).

I am also proud to announce that this chapter contains my first ever math joke. I think that warrants some kind of medal. ;-)

Chapter illustration (remove spaces and substitute . for (dot)): acaci ath orn . dev iant art(dot)com/art/Gimme-a-break-break-me-off-239258519

* * *

**Chapter 49: Mad Science  
**

"Welcome to the neuro-sim lab." Future Jimmy spread his arms to indicate their destination.

Cindy, Jimmy, and Goddard stood at the entrance, gawking. The room looked more like a warehouse than a laboratory, complete with workstations, storage areas, and apparatuses whose functions the kids couldn't even begin to guess.

Future Jimmy beckoned them forward. "This way."

"So..." said Cindy, looking around, "this is the proverbial mad scientist's laboratory, huh? How long do you suppose we'll be providing you with slave labor?"

Her direct address left him at a loss for words, so he turned around, folded his hands behind his back, and kept on walking. "I'm confident that, once I understand how you got here, it will take me no more than three hours to devise a way to send you home." He paused. "Oh, and Cindy? Fair warning: many of the inventions here are DNA-coded to electrocute anyone other than me, so you might want to refrain from touching anything."

Cindy cast a glance over her shoulder. "Pfft. Good thing Sheen isn't here."

They made their way through the laboratory, with Future Jimmy in the lead. An atmosphere of cold precision permeated the dark spaces between lab benches and consoles, while the room's haphazard setup struck the kids as being the result of idiosyncratic organization rather than untidiness. Cindy and Jimmy avoided close scrutiny of the cruel-looking inventions scattered about the workstations. As they neared the back of the room, the trio passed by a raised platform situated beneath a cluster of globe-shaped holo-projectors. The kids craned their necks to stare up at the projectors, which returned their gaze like so many unblinking eyes. Cindy shivered, and Future Jimmy pointed up at them.

"I see you've noticed the simulator that gives this lab its name. By simulating inventions before I build them, I am able to circumvent much of the trial-and-error process. But that's not where we're headed quite yet."

They came to a stop beside the furthest lab bench, and Future Jimmy began fiddling with his suit's integrated multipurpose watch. He unclipped a small component, which grew larger after being removed. He repeated the motion with his other wrist, then picked up a data pad of some sort. Once it became clear that the former Dictator did not intend to explain his actions, Jimmy turned away and examined some of the other inventions on the table, while Cindy absent-mindedly patted Goddard's head. After a moment, Future Jimmy set down his data pad and displayed his palm, revealing two small metal discs rimmed in pulsing green lights.

Cindy wrinkled her nose. "What're _those_? Did your evil Dictator disco-costume lose a couple of buttons?"

"It's a memory extraction and processing kernel," he frowned, irritated by her jibe. "It will allow me to directly access and assess all memories pertaining to your journey to this universe. I just attach it to your left temple, and then..."

Holding the device between his thumb and forefinger, he reached out to affix it to Cindy's head. She jerked back, batting his hand away.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Future Jimmy blinked in confusion, then blushed, suddenly awkward. "Sorry. I'm not used to explaining my actions to others. To be honest, it's been a long time since I've engaged in protracted socializing."

"So you're a nerd," she shrugged. "That still doesn't explain why you're sticking the technological equivalent of a brain worm in my face."

"I already described the purpose of the device, and I'm certain you understood my meaning – "

"I know _what_ you're doing," she cut in, "but what makes you think I'll just sit back and twiddle my thumbs while you probe my brain for information? No way I'm letting anyone invade my privacy like that. How would you feel if I read _your_ thoughts like a tabloid?"

"Pardon my bluntness," he began haughtily, "but I doubt you would be able to comprehend my thoughts. Secondly, I programmed the kernels to avoid privacy violation. The search parameters I will be using are very specific, and the device is only capable of downloading memories less than a week old. Any information that is not relevant, such as emotional data or sleep filler, will be encrypted and discarded."

"Oh, and I'm supposed to take your word for that?"

"Relax, Cindy," intervened Jimmy. "He's not trying to rob your memory bank. I think he wants to get an exact picture of how we got here, so that he can figure out a way to backtrack us to our point of origin. He's just using technology to expedite the process. Is that correct?"

Future Jimmy nodded.

"You see?"

Cindy crossed her arms. "Not good enough, Neutron."

"Come on," pleaded Jimmy, "it's not that big of a deal. I mean, it's not like _I've_ never used brain-altering technology on you before..."

"And THAT'S supposed to convince me?" she shot back.

He stuck his nose in the air. "Don't be paranoid, Vortex. The sooner we assemble the pertinent data, the sooner he can help us get back home. If we don't give him access to our memories, then how do you expect him to understand everything that's happened?"

"_Hello_!" she shouted, smacking her head. "That's what CONVERSATIONS are for! You don't need brain-zapping mumbo-jumbo to exchange information, genius. Why can't we just _tell_ him what happened?"

"That would take _time_, Cindy, and time's a luxury we can't afford right now. You don't have to agree to the extraction if you don't want to, but I'm not afraid." He turned to face his future self, leaving Cindy to glare at him in profile. "Proceed."

Future Jimmy nodded once and attached the disc to the boy's cranium, then attached its twin to his own temple. They both stood silent but for the whir of the memory extraction kernels. After nearly a minute of sustained quiet, Cindy heard a pinging sound, and Future Jimmy snapped back to attention.

"The memory exchange is complete. Please let me process for a few seconds."

"My God," said Cindy, "you are such a robot it's not even funny."

Future Jimmy surprised Cindy by laughing lightly.

"What?" she demanded.

"There are some pretty entertaining visuals in the data," he chuckled. "I wish you could have seen your face when Jimmy teleported you out to the top of that flagpole..."

"_You_ didn't even see it!"

Future Jimmy smirked. "That doesn't decrease the entertainment value."

Jimmy removed the disc and handed it back to his future self, before folding his arms over his chest. "I'd be laughing too," he grumbled, "except for one minor detail: that stunt ended up getting us sucked into another universe, remember? Catastrophic failure of that magnitude tends to put a damper on my amusement."

"Well," said Future Jimmy, "based on the memories I've just gained, I see no reason to regret your mistake. If you hadn't pulled that prank on Cindy, you never would have come here, and I give you ten to one odds that neither Aurora nor I would have survived to see our next birthdays. Not that my passing would have caused the citizens of this universe any heartache..."

Future Jimmy fell silent. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, then risked a quick peek at Cindy before returning his gaze to his younger self. He smiled faintly.

"Just between the two of us, I must say, your youthful intelligence is refreshing. I can see where I get my incomparable genius."

"Why thank you," said Jimmy. "It's reassuring to know that, as I age, I won't lose my ability to recognize quality when I see it."

Cindy slammed herself into Jimmy, and he stumbled over Goddard, who broke out into a series of frantic barks.

"Ow!" Jimmy rubbed his bruised arm. "What was that for?"

Cindy's hand flew to her mouth, affecting surprise. "I'm so sorry! I must have been pulled in by the rogue gravitational forces that were created when _your egos grew so large that they collapsed in on themselves._"

Jimmy shot her a belligerently stupefied look. "...Huh?"

She retreated a few paces, pouting. "You act like all the credit here belongs to you, when my contributions were just as vital. If you two are going to go all chummy and self-congratulatory on me, then...well, you need your horizons expanded. I guess I'll have to take one for the team and let him read my mind too."

"But you just said –"

"I _know_ what I said," she interrupted, "and I'm still uncomfortable with the whole idea, but I also don't want him to only get one side of the story. Nothing inside that freakish head of yours is going to come as any surprise to him, Neutron. Maybe _my_ perspective will shake things up a bit."

"Are you sure?" asked Future Jimmy.

"Are you deaf?" she retorted. "Just stick on the stupid button and get it over with!"

He positioned the device on Cindy's forehead, then straightened before activating the transfer. A little apprehensive about the exchange, Jimmy monitored Cindy's expression, looking for any sign of distress. To Jimmy's surprise, Cindy was not the one who reacted. About 30 seconds into the swap, the former Dictator inhaled sharply and yanked the device off his temple. He stumbled back a couple of steps, his breathing quickened.

Cindy opened her eyes. "What happened? Are you OK?"

It only took Future Jimmy a couple seconds to get himself under control, but by the time he did, his body language had changed. His shoulders rose and fell markedly with each breath, and strands of hair hung in his line of vision. No longer arrogant or bashful, his expression flickered between bewilderment and cold anger.

"What's the matter?" asked Jimmy. "Did something go wrong with the transfer?"

Future Jimmy remained stock-still. Only his eyes moved in response to Jimmy's query. They slowly shifted in their sockets until they fixed themselves on the kids, two unearthly blue circles peering out from within the shadows on his face.

Cindy took hold of Jimmy's arm. "Um...should we be worried?"

"Not sure."

The former Dictator advanced on them, and Cindy took a small step behind Jimmy, her grip tightening on his arm.

"Good God, Jimmy," she whispered, "tell your future self to tone down the creepy before I bolt."

Future Jimmy pushed the boy genius out of the way and grabbed Cindy by the wrist. He yanked her off balance and, leaning forward, assailed her with an intense, prying stare.

"Explain to me what happened between Aurora and April back on my base. _Now._"

Jimmy elbowed his way back in between Cindy and the former Dictator, shielding her from the cold-eyed man.

"What's the matter with you? Leave her alone!"

Grateful for Jimmy's interference, Cindy hung back, trying to gather her discombobulated thoughts. Fear prickled over her skin like ants, followed by a medley of other emotions – antagonism, confusion, guilt – all transferred to her from Future Jimmy. Deeply shaken, she covered it up with nonchalance.

"Whoa there, down boy. What's this about April and Aurora?"

Future Jimmy backed off a little, but the look of near madness in his expression did not diminish. His gaze was far more intrusive than any mind-reading device, and Cindy had to fight the urge to shrink away.

"Don't keep secrets from me, little girl," he said in a low voice. "I just saw something that _definitely_ wasn't in Jimmy's memory banks. I saw Aurora betray April after our fight."

"Aurora, betray April?" repeated Jimmy, baffled. "What are you talking about?"

Cindy snapped her fingers. "Oh. Now I get it. Neither of you were there, were you? Cause you were unconscious, and you were out trying to save Goddard..."

"There for what?" said Jimmy. "Can somebody _please_ explain what we're talking about here?"

Cindy sighed. "It was before you and skinny Carl made it to the main control room. The place was literally falling apart around us when April showed up. Aurora was happy to see her, but April was...well, the whole thing with Nav..." She broke off temporarily. "Anyway, April tried to kill the Dictator, but Aurora stopped her. She said protecting him was the only course of action left, and that she'd kill _anyone_ who got in the way...including April."

"Aurora said that?"

"Yeah, and April didn't take it very well. She used Aurora as a punching bag until Aurora finally knocked her out, and that's right about when you came in, Neutron."

"Wow...I can't believe it."

Future Jimmy grabbed Cindy by the shoulders, startling both kids. "Enough exposition. Tell me _why_ she did it."

Cindy wrenched away. "How should I know? I'm not Aurora, remember? If you really want to find out, why don't you ask _her_?"

He withdrew into cold silence, glaring down at her from out of the corner of his eye. Cindy found his anger easier to withstand than his scrutiny, and she favored him with a scowl of her own.

"I don't get it," she said. "Why are you flipping out over this? I mean, sure, it's kind of upsetting, but you know what Aurora's like. She isn't the kind of chick who lets other people get in the way of her goals, and she's especially single-minded when it comes to you. She even stood her ground against the Gorlock High Council when they refused to get on board with the antidote plan. Given her history, what happened with April back on the base shouldn't come as too much of a shock to you. Besides, it's not like she had much choice. April was hysterical. Aurora had resort to desperate measures to get us all out of there in one piece."

Jimmy was surprised to see contempt in his future self's expression.

"Please," scoffed Future Jimmy. "It's one thing to defy the orders of inflexible superiors. It's another thing entirely to treat your closest companion so callously after she just lost the man she loves. Especially when that betrayal is motivated by a desire to protect the villain who throttled you to within an inch of your life. There is something very, very wrong with that."

Jimmy considered for a moment. "Upsetting as Aurora's actions may be, I think you owe Cindy an apology. You're not the Dictator anymore. You can't use intimidation tactics on kids just because you're a little shaken up."

"And I still don't see why you are," pressed Cindy. "You have no right to be mad at Aurora after everything she's gone through. She made a snap decision because she had to, not because–"

She broke off when she realized that Future Jimmy was no longer listening. He hopped up onto the simulator platform and activated one of the holo-spheres, which projected a console into the air in front of him. He entered a lengthy password into the holographic keypad, and the screen emitted a beam that scanned his retinas and checked his facial biometrics.

"Access granted. D-Code_Platform initiated."

Identity confirmed, dozens of projection units activated, and a ring of holo-screens descended from the ceiling and dropped into place around him. Jimmy and Cindy turned a slow circle, marveling at the luminescent display.

"Um...nice light show and all," said Cindy after a pause, "but I'm still waiting for an apology."

"Then I hope you cope well with disappointment," he replied tersely. "I'm not interested in discussing the matter further with you. In fact, your presence here hampers my concentration. Both of you will leave, and then Goddard and I will get to work."

Jimmy opened his mouth to protest. "But Aurora said – "

"I don't _care_ what Aurora said. I'll be done in two hours. Now _get out_."

One look at his expression convinced the kids to flee into the corridor. As soon as the automatic doors shut behind them, Cindy slumped with her back against the wall and slid down to the floor. Jimmy took a seat next to her, sighing as he settled into cross-legged repose.

"I wish I knew what that was about..." he muttered.

She tossed her hair. "He's just mad at himself for being a jerk and is freaking out because Aurora is stupid enough to care about him."

"Ah. I see. Stupid."

Jimmy kicked his feet out from under him and transferred his weight back onto his hands, then tilted his chin up toward the ceiling. "You know," he began, "I never really got the chance to thank you for comforting me. After what happened with alternate Goddard, I mean."

"How could I not? You looked so miserable, and I, well..." She tapped the tips of her index fingers together. "I guess I should be thanking you too, for coming to my rescue in there. As much as I hate to admit it, I was scared stiff when he started interrogating me."

"Me too."

Cindy lowered her voice just enough for it to be construed as flirtation. "I'm glad you're not like that, Jimmy."

"Me too."

"Is that all you know how to say?" she glowered.

"Me too."

She swatted him, and he chuckled. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. My maturity level seems to be a cosine function these days."

"OK," she grinned, "that was pretty funny."

She relaxed, settling into the same pose as Jimmy, and he shut his eyes.

"I cannot _wait_ to get out of here. This whole adventure has been one gigantic train wreck after another. If one more thing goes wrong, I swear on Einstein's hair tufts that I will go ballistic."

"I know what you mean," she said. "If I were you, I'd build a therapy robot as soon as we get home, and then charge all of us to use it. You'd make a killing."

He snorted. "It would _have_ to be a robot. No human counselor could handle the kind of stuff we'd want to discuss. Can you picture it? 'Excuse me, Mr. therapist...I just got back from an alternate universe where I got lost in a maze that caused me to become massively attracted to all my male friends and my dog. Advice, please?'"

She laughed. "Ya, if I were a therapist, I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole. Yet another reason why I prefer option number two: never speak of it again as long as we live." She paused, then grinned mischievously. "Well, except for that part where you stuck out your rear-end and started monologuing about being youthfully rubicund and obstetrically capacious. You do realize that makes no sense for a guy, right?"

"Pfft, who cares? You were so strung out on love potion that I could've said _anything,_ and you still would've been all over me like a hobo on a ham sandwich."

"Like a hobo on a ham sandwich? Really? That's the simile you're choosing?"

"Would you prefer 'like a fat kid on cake'?" he asked.

Cindy gasped with fake indignation. "Neutron, don't drag Carl into this! What kind of friend are you?"

He let his head fall back as he laughed. "You're awful!" His smile faded, and he dropped his chin, meeting her eyes with a question in his own. "Why is it always like this with you? At school, you're a nightmare, but as soon as we get out here, in some crazy situation, you're the first person I want to talk to. You're witty, and insightful, and you have the most _scathing_ sense of humor..." She looked to the side, and he stared at her until she made eye contact again. "I know we swore not to discuss what happened in the emotion rooms, but did you really mean what you said? That you sometimes imagine what it'd be like if the two of us never left that island?"

She fidgeted. "Well, _sometimes..._"

"What do you imagine, exactly?"

She slid her foot over the ground, tracing patterns with her toes. "I don't know...having conversations like this, I guess. Not having to worry about what other people might think if they saw us smiling at each other, or holding hands..." She reached for his hand, then stopped herself. "But it's like you said back in Shangri Llama – the whole universe is against us. You and I aren't meant to be together."

"Well," he admitted, "maybe I was wrong. In life, you can't expect everything to just magically fall into place. Maybe there are no ready-made islands, if you catch my drift...maybe you have to make your own island, wherever you are, whatever the circumstances."

"God, Neutron, could you get any cornier? You're triggering my gag reflex here."

"What? It was a perfectly valid metaphor!"

"Valid doesn't necessarily mean _good."_

He threw his hands in the air. "Well excuse me for not being a poet! Here I am pouring my heart out, and you're worried about semantics!" Suddenly animated with anger, he jumped to his feet. "Ugh, you drive me nuts, you know that? Why do you have to be so confusing and aggravating all the time? You're rude, and you criticize me, and then suddenly you turn around and do something smart and funny...I hate it!"

"Well, maybe if you didn't constantly act like you're better than me, I wouldn't feel the need to cut you down to size! Maybe if you treated me like an equal –"

"Don't blame your nasty attitude on me!" he shouted. "You're in charge of your own actions. It's a _choice,_ Cindy, a conscious choice. You could choose to be nice to me if you wanted to, but you don't. So if I hate you, how can you blame anyone but yourself?"

"You don't _really_ hate me, do you?" she asked softly.

Sighing, he flopped down next to her. "No, but sometimes I wish I did. It would be so much easier to hate you if I didn't like you so much."

She snickered, and he glared at her. "See? Now you're making fun of me again!"

"I'm not, I swear!" She smoothed a few strands of hair away from her face, then looked down, ashamed. "I know I ream you out when I shouldn't. But to be honest, half the time I can't think of any other way to get your attention. You get all up on your high horse, and then I'm not good enough for you anymore, and you ignore me."

He closed his eyes. "Cindy, I couldn't ignore you if I wanted to. That's what scares me so much."

She stuck her nose in the air. "Well, it serves you right. Everything was hunky-dory before I met you. I was the smartest kid in class, and I had a nice normal life in a nice normal town. Then, bang! You swoop in with your junky tin rocket, and the next thing I know, my parents are being captured by aliens and Ms. Fowl is fifty feet tall."

"Well," he chuckled, "when you put it like _that..._"

"But you know what?" she continued. "When I try to picture life without you, well... it's pretty darn boring. The truth of the matter is, I like being around you. And I can say that with impunity, having spent so much, um..._quality time_ in your company."

"Quality time, huh? Like when we switched minds, you mean?"

"Yeesh," she huffed, rolling her eyes. "Don't remind me."

" ...How was that, by the way?"

"Um, yeah, I've pretty much filed that whole experience into the 'never speak of this again' folder." She swung around to face him. "Do you know that I held my pee for 18 hours straight so I wouldn't have to see anything that might scar me for life?"

"That's nothing. Your crazy mom _insisted_ that I bathe before bed, so I had to turn off all the lights and take a shower in the dark. I almost slipped on strawberry shampoo and _died._"

She burst out laughing. "Are you serious? You never told me!"

"Ya, because you would've killed me if you knew. You can't just saunter up to a girl and say 'hey guess what, I just got naked in your body and splashed some sudsy water on myself'. That sort of statement tends to elicit a negative reaction."

Cindy guffawed. "Oh my God! I can't believe you just said that!"

"Me neither. Let's stop talking about this."

"Good idea."

There was a long moment of silence, and Jimmy cleared his throat. "So, um...what now?"

She heaved a tired sigh, then scooted closer and rested her head against his shoulder. "I don't know. I don't care. Just be a good headrest and shut up."

They remained like that for awhile, content to sit quietly in one another's company. After a time, a scream in the distance broke their reverie, and Cindy perked up.

"What was that?"

"Not sure..."

Rapid footsteps approached, and Future Libby peeled out around the corner, with Future Sheen hot on her heels. Panic overtook Cindy, and she jumped to her feet. Stepping in front of Jimmy, she assumed an aggressive karate stance, only to drop her block when she realized that Future Libby was laughing.

"No...hahaha! Stay back!"

Future Sheen lumbered after her in a stiff-legged march, arms extended like the Frankenstein monster. He groaned and threw his head from side to side in a cheesy imitation of his earlier struggle to control himself.

"Oh no!" he wailed with mock drama. "I'm no longer the master of my own limbs! I'm coming to get you! Raaaaawr!"

Future Libby teeheed and batted his hand away. "Eek! Save me!"

"There's no hope!" he gushed with exaggerated anguish. "You can't possibly escape from my freakish muscly insanity!" She giggled as he reached out and snagged her by the back of the dress. "NOOO! What am I doing? You'll never date me if I manhandle you like this! Curse you Jimmyyyyyyyyy..."

Cindy's jaw dropped at the spectacle. "Oh...my God."

"In all of my years," said Jimmy, wide-eyed, "I've never witnessed anything so _indescribably..._"

"...Horrifying?" supplied Cindy.

"Ya. That's the one."

Realizing that they were not alone, Future Libby and Future Sheen dropped their charade.

"Oh, uh...hi guys," said Future Libby as nonchalantly as she could.

Cindy blinked, stunned. "Hi. Say, you two wouldn't happen to have any brain bleach on you, would you?"

Future Libby adjusted her rumpled dress, looking abashed. "Sorry about that. We were just, um...uh..."

"We were looking for Aurora," finished Future Sheen.

"Right. Lookin' for Aurora. Have you seen her?"

Cindy massaged her forehead in annoyance. "I thought she was with you."

"Well, she _was_, but she told me she was comin' here."

Jimmy gestured as the closed door next to him. "Well, I suppose she could've gone into the sim-lab after we left, but I'm not going back in there to find out." He paused. "By the way, where are Carl, Libby, and Sheen? Are they still in the cockpit?"

"As far as I know," said Future Libby. "I had to put 'em on mini-house arrest after they drew mutton chops and unibrows on the faces of everyone present, and Carl started breakin' out in hives from contact with the ink."

"How am I not surprised?" Cindy exhaled in exasperation. "Nerdbomb and I are still waiting for the resident mad scientist to finish up in there – he kicked us out a little while ago because we were 'distracting him' or something."

Future Libby planted a hand on her hip. "Seriously? Someone needs to make a 'teamwork' pill and shove it down that guy's throat."

Cindy warmed to the theme. "I know, right? I was just telling Neutron here..."

Jimmy's mind drifted as Cindy and Future Libby continued conversing – that is, until he caught sight of Future Sheen, who had receded into the background. Jimmy took his first good look at the tall man, who in addition to being tattooed with strange numbers and markings, was still shirtless and in apparent need of a bath. Future Sheen leaned against the wall for support, covering his left eye and dragging in labored breaths.

Concerned, Jimmy nodded in his direction. "Hey Sheen, you OK?"

Future Libby glanced behind her to check on him, and Future Sheen instantly resumed a carefree stance. He grinned benignly, and Future Libby cocked her head to the side.

"No worries, Libs. I just had a massive itch on my back, and I couldn't reach it for the life of me."

"Ugh, I hate it when that happens," she sympathized. "Want me to scratch it for you?"

"Much as I hate to turn down a free back-scratching, I uh...I already took care of it. Thanks though."

Future Libby turned back to Cindy, none the wiser, and Future Sheen slumped with the effort of his lie. Jimmy frowned, wondering what could have prompted the cover-up.

"Hey Neutron, I'm talking to you here!"

Cindy elbowed him a little too roughly, and he jumped.

"Wha–? Huh?"

"I _said,_ we're going back to the cockpit to pick up Libs and the two house-apes and see if we can rustle up some grub. You coming?"

"Um..." Jimmy stole another glance at Future Sheen, then shook his head. "No thanks. I have some...things I'd like to investigate."

"Suit yourself."

They set off, and Jimmy waited until they had rounded the corner before he dashed off in the opposite direction.

"I bet the bio-chem lab's the best place to look," he muttered to himself. "If I remember the ship schematics correctly, it should be right –" He turned left and almost charged past a doorway labeled _Biochemistry Laboratory. _"– here."

He skidded to a stop and backtracked to the entrance. He held up a piece of his hair to the DNA scanner, but before it recognized the match, the doors slid open of their own accord. Jimmy found himself face-to-face with Aurora, who held a holo-pad tucked under her arm.

"What the – Aurora?"

"Oh, good," she said, without missing a beat. "You've saved me the trouble of finding you."

He tried to peer past her into the laboratory, but the lighting proved too dim. "What are you doing snooping around inside the bio-chem lab? How did you even get in there?"

"I'm doing what we in the biz like to call 'recon'," she replied. "Since the _Half Life_ is for all intents and purposes _my_ ship now, I need to familiarize myself with every aspect of her operation. And if, during the process of said familiarization, I happen to do some digging using the passcodes you gave us, then all the better. You, on the other hand, _are_ snooping. I hope you're not planning to inspect his inventions so you can replicate them when you get back home."

"Come on, Aurora, you know me better than that. I'm not going to draw inspiration from evil-ville. I came here to see if I could uncover any information on Future Sheen. He was behaving strangely earlier, and I suspect there's more to the incident than meets the eye."

"My, great minds really _do_ think alike. Here."

Aurora handed Jimmy the holo-pad, and something about her expression made the tiny computer feel heavy in his grasp.

"What's this?" he asked.

"There's one thing in particular I was investigating, and I've downloaded all the data I could find into the pad. Have a look."

She tapped one corner of the holo-pad, and the screen switched on. A 3-D rendering of Future Sheen blinked and rotated twice, then shrunk down, making room for a directory of folders.

"Experiment 21-12?" frowned Jimmy.

She nodded grimly. "The Dictator performed some pretty appalling experiments on Sheen over the last ten years, Jimmy. I'm trying to get a handle on the extent of the damage. I've had a look through the records, but to be honest, the science is beyond me. That's why I want you to scrutinize the experimental data and let me know what we're dealing with here."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to ask my future self about this? He _is_ the one who did the experiments, after all."

"Are you kidding me? The man's a mess. You couldn't _pay_ me to trust his judgment right now."

"Well that's reassuring to hear," said Jimmy sarcastically. "You know, since he's currently building the contraption that will send us across universes. Or scatter our atoms. Whichever. Boy, I sure am glad you left the crazy guy in charge of our return trip..."

"I'm not doubting his technical competence. I'm talking about his emotional stability. He'd feel too much guilt about what he did to Sheen to examine the data objectively. No, I want you to do it."

Jimmy selected a folder and began to peruse its contents, a bit unsettled by this new responsibility. "OK, I'll have a look at the files, but I'm not quite sure what you expect me to conclude."

"Sheen attacked Libby back on the base," said Aurora gravely, "and he probably would have killed her if not for some quick thinking on her part and an Everest-sized mountain of luck. I already know he's a basket case, but the question is, can he be fixed? Just figure out whether he poses a permanent danger to himself and others. Tell me if there's anything you can do to reverse what those experiments did to him."

"And what if I conclude that the damage is irreparable? What then?"

Her cold eyes gave him the answer. "Libby is my best friend, Neutron. I don't care how she feels about Sheen – if he's a threat to her safety in any way, I won't give him the chance to hurt her. I will eliminate the threat."

Jimmy's eyes widened. "You're going to kill him if he's too messed up? You've got to be kidding me. You can't do that, Aurora!"

"I didn't say _kill._ I'm not completely uncivilized. I'll just put him into cold sleep, or drop him off on a habitable planet somewhere..."

"After everything he's been through? Aurora, that's too cold-blooded! I won't allow it!"

"I guess you'd better find a way to fix him then, huh?"

"And what's to stop me from lying?" He glared at her. "Now that I know what you intend to do if I give you a negative report, I could easily skew the facts to protect him."

She waved a hand airily as she walked away. "You won't. I know you. The burden of Libby's safety is now on your shoulders. If you realize that Sheen's a genuine threat, you'll have to speak up, or risk her life, and you're too much of a goody-goody for that. Isn't it great? Your own morality will compel you to do what I say."

He shouted after her retreating figure, livid. "You..._YOU_! You're positively medieval, Aurora!"

"Sticks and stones, Neutron. I have my priorities. If you don't like it, find a way to outsmart me. In the meantime, have fun analyzing the data."

With that pronouncement, she vanished around the corner, leaving Jimmy to fume into the data pad. Several choice words later, he reigned himself in enough to take a closer look at the files. As he pored over the documents, his angry expression gradually transformed into one of grim understanding. His eyes flew over the words, the diagrams, the numbers, absorbing everything at lightning speed. All the while, his brow contracted into an ever-increasing frown.

"This is..." When he looked up at last, it was with the dismayed determination of someone ready to battle the most awful of diagnoses. "You can't do this to me, Aurora." He took off down the hallway at a brisk pace, heading after Future Sheen and Future Libby. "I'll take care of this, and I'll do it _my_ way. If _you_ don't like it, then have fun outsmarting _me._"

It didn't take long for the boy genius to catch up with the others. They strolled at a relaxed pace, laughing and chattering amongst themselves. Jimmy approached the trio with a self-conscious clearing of his throat. Cindy was the first to notice his presence, and she planted a hand on her hip with a smug grin.

"Couldn't stay away from me, eh Neutron?"

Jimmy didn't waste energy on a snappy retort. "Sheen, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure, I guess," said Future Sheen. "What about?"

Future Libby looked on curiously, and Jimmy rubbed his arm. "Um, I think we should probably discuss this in private..."

The adults exchanged glances, and Future Sheen folded his arms. "Whatever it is, you can darn well say it in front of – "

Future Libby interrupted. "No, no, it's OK Sheen. Cindy and I will go on ahead. If Jimmy says he needs to talk to you alone, then he needs to talk to you alone." Her gaze traveled from Future Sheen to the boy genius, and she smiled. "I'll see you boys back in the cockpit, 'kay? Come on, Cindy..."

She bowed before leaving, and Jimmy shook his head as she disappeared down the hall with a quizzical Cindy in tow.

"I still get weirded out when she does that."

Future Sheen shrugged. "Meh, I think the bowing's kinda hot."

"You think EVERYTHING she does is hot."

"What's your point?"

Jimmy raked his fingers through his hair, exhaling apprehensively. "Never mind that. Sheen, there's something I need to discuss with you, and I don't think you're going to like it."

Future Sheen stiffened.

"I've had a look at the data from the experiments that were performed on you," explained Jimmy, "and it doesn't look good. What the Dictator did to you...I can't just snap my fingers and reverse it. And that's not all."

Future Sheen shut his mismatched eyes, an action which accentuated the dark circles beneath them. He forced himself to unclench his fingers before speaking. "What's not all?" he bit out the words. "What else?"

Jimmy backed up a step. "This is the part you're not going to like..."

* * *

Yay another cliffhanger! :D

Hope you enjoyed Future Jimmy's ridiculous multiple-personality-style mood swings. He'll recover eventually, especially with Aurora around to whoop his ass into shape ;-). As always, I am a feedback junkie, so *detailed* comments are cherished for all eternity! :D

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	50. Bygones

FINALLY. I apologize for the ungodly long wait. Enjoy Chapter 50, which I easily could've titled "Watch as Mara destroys Aurora's Soul".

Chapter illustration (remove spaces and swap out . for (dot)): genki-de . dev ian tart(dot)com/art/Space-Rival-209471895

* * *

**Chapter 50: Bygones  
**

Two hours later, and half the people on board the _ship_ were still missing in action. To kill time, Future Libby and Cindy reviewed some basic karate strikes as the rest of the kids lolled about the cockpit.

"Not that I don't _love_ seeing my precious Libbylicious wave her arms around," said Sheen, picking his teeth, "but this is starting to get old. Where the heck is everyone? If I have to sit in this room much longer, I'm gonna go off the deep end!"

Libby, who was busy thumbing through an old magazine she got from who-knows-where, barely spared him a glance. "Take a chill pill, Sheen. Just...look out the window or somethin'."

"Meh. You've seen one shimmering hyperspace kaleidoscope of ultimate glory, you've seen 'em all."

Cindy whirled around, irritated. "Would you guys shut your yaps? I'm trying to teach a complicated strike here!"

"Sorry, Cind..." said Libby guiltily.

Sheen launched into a monologue on the finer points of female action figures, and Cindy switched her attention back to Future Libby, whose hands were extended in an aggressive pose.

"Now, like I was saying, you need to build up more downward speed. You've got to stop treating every move like it's a block...hitting requires more energy than deflecting a blow. You need _power,_ not just finesse!"

Cindy demonstrated by slicing her arm through the air, and Future Libby dropped her hands with a sigh.

"I know, I know. But it's tough when you've had the complete opposite drilled into your head for so long. Besides, I'm kinda distracted. Sheen's right...we've been waitin' here for ages, and nobody's come back yet. Do you think Aurora is with you-know-who? I know I'm just being paranoid, but after what he did to her, I'm not entirely sold on the idea of leavin' them in a room together unattended..."

"It's cool," shrugged Cindy. "She can take him. Now bend your knees a little more, I could knock you over with one push!"

"I think you're missin' the point here..."

"No, _you're_ the one missing the point. Do you want to practice, or not?"

The door to the cockpit swished open, taking both girls by surprise. Jimmy shuffled through, looking exceptionally weary and dispirited. He dragged his feet as he walked, shoulders hunched and head hanging, and Cindy instantly regretted the snarky comment which left her lips.

"Jeez, Neutron, get hit by a truck?"

"Not now, Cindy. I'm not in the mood." He plunked down next to Carl and Sheen, then jerked his thumb toward the door. "Hey Libby?"

Both Libbys answered in unison. "Yes?"

He shook his head, trying to order his thoughts. "No, not you, Libby...older Libby...your Sheen's out there in the hallway. You may want to go talk to him."

Future Libby's eyebrows furrowed in worry. "Is it bad, then? What you told him?"

"Just go talk to him," sighed Jimmy. "I've had my fill of lengthy explanations for today." She turned to leave, and he called out after her as she approached the exit. "Oh, and if you see Aurora, tell her she's a cold, unfeeling harpy, would you? Thanks."

Cindy berated Jimmy for his comment, and Future Libby had just enough time to see Sheen jump to his feet before the doors closed behind her.

"Woohoo," he shouted, pumping one fist in the air, "no grown-ups! Let's TP the place!"

The exit sealed shut, muting his antics and leaving her alone in the corridor. She hadn't even gone ten paces when she nearly tripped over Future Sheen, who was tucked up against the right wall with his head on his knees. He looked up at her in surprise.

"Libby!"

"...What in the world? Sheen, what are you doin' there?"

He groped for an answer. "Uh...counting?"

"_Counting?"_

"Ya."

"By yourself, in the hallway?"

"Uh..."

"Y'know what? Never mind. Come on, I'll help you up."

She extended her hand, and he took it, but instead of hoisting himself up, he dragged her down onto him. He wrapped his arms around her, and Future Libby's muddled protests ran together as he tightened the embrace.

"So, Libby," he said after a pause, "on a scale of one to ten, how bummed would you be if I told you this sort of thing was off limits?"

"'This sort of thing'?"

"Ya, you know...the romantical sort of thing."

She frowned. "Why would romance be off limits?"

"Well, it's kind of complicated, and I was raving mad about it earlier - I punched a wall, hope you don't mind - but then I got to thinking, and I think maybe it's not such a bad thing after all."

"Sheen, I have _no_ idea what you're talkin' about."

"Oh. Right. I should probably start at the beginning, shouldn't I? Then, once I've explained, you'll understand why we can't be together."

She flinched as if electrocuted. He took her hand, and she searched his face for an explanation. "What do you mean, we can't be together?"

"Calm down, calm down. I didn't mean that we can _never_ be together. We just can't be together _right now_. And don't think it's 'cause I don't want us to be. Believe me when I say that there's nothing I want more than to throw you down right here and do things that would make my Grandma blush in heaven. But with the way I am, we can't have a future together."

"But...but...I like you. Even if you're kind of scary, and even if you're messed up in the head, I still want us to be together. Not because I feel like I owe you somethin', and not because the monks want us to get married. Just..._because_. You make me laugh, and you act like I'm the greatest thing that ever drew breath. I want to get to know you better. I want us to help each other. So please, you don't have to hold off on my account. I'm sure your Grandma has better things to do in heaven anyway."

He dropped her arm abruptly. "You don't get it, Libby. The stuff the Dictator said about me back on the planet...it was all true. I'm not OK. Just sitting here right now, I can pick out the individual scents of everyone in the cockpit. My head is screaming "easy prey!" I want to snap their limbs, just to hear the bones crack. And it's not just them. The Dictator, Aurora, Carl, April... If I weren't restraining myself right now, I would probably hunt down all the people on board this ship, and I would _enjoy _it."

He brought her wrist to his mouth, then brushed his lips across the skin of her inner forearm. Her heartbeat quickened.

"Don't even _ask_ me what I would do to you if I lost it," he said. "Let's just say, it's not the kind of thing that would make dear old Grams blush in heaven."

She shrunk away. "You were just talking to Jimmy...can't he do anythin' about it? Can't he, I dunno, find a way to reverse the damage that's been done?"

"Not without putting me through another ten years worth of painful experiments...and even that might not fix me." Future Sheen sighed. "Jimmy used all sorts of big psych words to explain it to me, but you don't need it explained. You've seen my killer zombie mode. There's a short in my brain, or something, and the sad truth is that I'm not ready to lead a normal life yet. I could probably suppress the instincts for awhile, but I don't have the skills to keep it up forever. Could you imagine if we got married and had kids, and I lost it one day? I could kill our child, Libby. I could kill my own kid. I could kill the monks. I could kill _you._ I'm not telling you this to scare you; I'm telling you because I _have_ to. As I am now, I'm too messed up to keep myself in check, no matter how hard I try."

"So...what are you going to do?"

"Well, it's not all gloom and doom. There's no quick fix for what's wrong with me, but it's possible to learn how to control it. Jimmy tells me that, with the right mental and physical conditioning, I could be – what did he call it? – 'socially functional' within a year or two."

"A year or two?"

"I know that seems like a long time, but don't you see? This is a good thing!" He sprung up, forced optimism ping-ponging off him. "Ever since I hurt you back on the planet, I've been going nuts on the inside, wondering how I could ever be happy with you if I had to constantly worry about going off the deep end again. This way, I can finally, _finally_ be free from all that_._ Jimmy gave me some exercises to start with, and when we get back to Shangri Llama, I'm going to ask the head monk to train me. Meditation and controlled martial arts are exactly what I need to reign myself in." He chuckled a little. "A year or two spent reenacting Kung Fu films in the mountains ought to do the trick. I mean, sure, I'll probably still have to leave town on weekends and go wrestle a tiger or something, but isn't that better than having to worry that I might snap at any moment?"

She looked at him blankly, and for the first time he realized that his news might actually be a deal-breaker. Suddenly terrified, he hung back, preparing himself for rejection and heartbreak.

"Of course, it's up to you," he blurted. "I wouldn't blame you if you decided that we'd be better off as just friends. I 'd even understand if you wanted me to leave Shangri Llama for good. I guess if I were as hot as you, I wouldn't want to be with a guy who was three french fries short of a happy meal either..."

She got to her feet, and he nervously offered her a hand. She walked past it, and his heart dropped into his stomach – until she stood on tiptoe and planted a kiss on his cheek. He touched his hand to his face in surprise.

"I can't say I'm not disappointed," she said, "but I can tell that you're really baring your soul here, and that takes guts."

"Heh heh, you think so? Well, I _am_ pretty much the greatest thing that ever lived, excluding Ultralord, dinosaurs, and Pocahontas. I can see why you'd be impressed."

He made a muscle, and she shook her head in amusement. "Well, now that that's settled, what do you say we head back into the cockpit? I've had it up to here with waitin' for Aurora and the jerkface. I'm gonna ask Jimmy if he can ring 'em up over the loudspeaker or somethin'..."

Still talking, she started off toward the door. Future Sheen extended one arm and planted it against the wall, blocking her exit.

"I don't THINK so. If I'm going to spend the next two years living like a monk, I need to stock up on the good stuff while I have the chance. Now...what would you say to another kiss?"

"All right." She stood on her tiptoes again, dropping a kiss on his other cheek. "There. Now it's balanced."

"That's _not_ what I'm talking about."

He advanced on her, and she retreated a couple of steps, too tongue-tied to shoo him away. He caught her about the waist, and as he leaned forward, the bulk of his shoulder obscured the overhead light, turning his body into an approaching shadow. She could not see his face as he lifted a wayward braid and whispered into her ear.

"Libby..."

"Y-You just said this sort of thing was off limits..."

Pulling back, he rolled his eyes in playful reproach. "Psh, ya, once we get back to _Earth. _Does this look like Earth to you? Looks like a scuzzy hallway to me, and as long as I've got you cornered in a scuzzy hallway, I can do whatever I like..."

He traced his thumb across her lower lip. "I think you know what happens next."

The heat from his body hit her before his mouth did. He dragged her against him, his fingers burrowing into the fabric of her dress, and she sunk into his kiss, a pendulum between forceful and sweet. Heart pounding in her ribcage, her thoughts tumbled backward out of her body and into balmy oblivion.

Occupied as they were, Future Libby and Sheen failed to hear the sound of footsteps coming from around the bend. Aurora glanced up at the precise instant she turned into their corridor. For the briefest of moments her brows knit together in confusion, then comprehension dawned, and she caught her breath and ducked back around the corner. Cheeks burning, she pressed her shoulder blades into the wall. Sheen and Libby, already?

Aurora murmured a sarcastic comment, but it failed to put her back in control of herself. "Jeez, guys, get a room..."

She stared plaintively at the ceiling, as if begging it to explain the sudden constriction in her throat. Hushed voices tipped her off that the coast was probably clear, but she found herself unable to face the pair. She remained flattened against the wall, eyelids pressed together in a combination of embarrassment and misery. Baffled by her own reaction, she chastised herself.

"They're adults, idiot. They can do what they want, and it's none of your business."

Without really meaning to, Aurora touched her own lips. She flinched at the sudden contact, then looked down at her fingertips. She imagined them disintegrating, crumbling into dry sand and blowing away on the wind, and she had to suppress the urge to cry out in despair. Unable to bear her own company a moment longer, Aurora jerked away from the wall and strolled out around the corner.

"Oh...hey guys," she said, feigning nonchalance. "What are you doing out here in the hallway?"

"A-Aurora!" The dark-haired woman tugged at her dress to straighten it, an action which would've appeared innocuous if Aurora hadn't already known better. "I didn't notice you comin'..."

"You probably just couldn't hear me over the sound of your conversation."

Something about Aurora's tone set off alarm bells in Future Libby's head. She squinted at her friend, trying to read her expression, but Aurora donned one of her many impenetrable masks. Before Future Libby could confirm her suspicions, the ship lurched, and Future Sheen jumped a good two feet in the air.

"What was that?" His left eye blazed red, and he quickly covered it with one hand.

"We just dropped out of hyperspace in high orbit around Earth," replied Aurora. "That's why I'm here...it's time to send you two back to Shangri Llama."

"Really?" asked Future Libby, with an air of disappointment. "...Already?"

"Yup. No more waiting for you guys."

Future Libby missed Aurora's subtle dig. "Wait...I know the kids are in the cockpit, which is I assume where we're going, but where's everyone else? Isn't April gonna see us off?"

"To be honest," frowned Aurora, "I haven't the faintest idea where she ran off to. As for the other unaccounted-for individuals on this ship, well...let's just say I figured it'd be better for all parties involved if they weren't around for the send-off."

"Ah, right."

Aurora gave Future Sheen a knowing glance. "That is, assuming you and little bighead had a serious heart-to-heart while I was away."

Future Sheen let his hand drop away from his face. "We did."

"Must've been a doozy too," chimed in Future Libby, "'cause the last time I saw him, he said to tell you that you're a cold, unfeeling harpy."

"Oh, good. I guess he found a way to outsmart me, then. Shall we?"

Aurora motioned for them to lead the way back into the bridge. The trio entered together, interrupting what seemed to be the punchline to a very lame Sheen joke.

"...and then the banker said, "it's a knick-knack, paddywack, give the dog a _loan_!" BAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sheen looked from one to the other expectantly. "Get it? Get it?"

The other kids groaned and rolled their eyes. Libby slumped back in the pilot's chair, smacking her head with the rolled-up fashion magazine.

Aurora raised an eyebrow. "That bad, huh?"

"_Worse_," moaned Libby."Please tell me that the planet behind us is _our_ Earth, and that I can go home to my room now."

"Sorry to disappoint, but...no. I'm just here to pilot the ship into low orbit so I can teleport these two back to Shangri Llama."

Aurora headed for the main controls, while a subdued Future Libby trailed behind. Future Sheen noticed her delay and dropped back to walk with her.

"What's on your mind, baby-cakes?"

"You're not the only one who wants to change, Sheen," she said in a small voice. "Aurora hasn't said anythin', but I know it's my fault her big fight with Jimmy went to heck in a hand-basket." She lowered her head in shame. "I couldn't take care of myself, so she had to protect me, when she should have been protectin' herself."

"Hey, you weren't the one who kicked the crap out of Aurora, so it's not your fault. Besides, you were up against an evil genius and a dude with claws growing out of his hand. You can't really expect a normal person to win against freaks like that."

"That's just it – I'm sick of being a normal person. I've had ten years to do somethin' with my life, but all I've done is sit around and play dress-up with a bunch of nutballs who think you're the Chosen One just 'cause you can stick your foot behind your head. I'm not proud of myself, Sheen. Seeing Aurora fight for survival like she did, with such power and skill, made me realize how small and silly my life has been. I may never be able to make it into the same league as Aurora or April, but I still want to improve. I don't want to sit around like a glorified towel rack while you're off wrestlin' tigers or whatever. I wanna learn to defend myself. I don't care if the monks say it's not proper for a lady to fight. I'm gonna _insist._ I want to be more like Aurora...except, you know, with a better fashion sense and less rage."

Future Sheen laughed, relieved. "_Awesome_. We are going to be so hardcore be the time we get hitched, the world won't even know what to do with itself. Space and time will collapse in on themselves when we exchange our vows. KAPOW!"

He belted out the final word, flinging his arms wide. The others, who hadn't heard the rest of the conversation, jumped in surprise.

Cindy exhaled her irritation. "Seriously, what is _with_ you? First you skulk around, whispering and making googley eyes at her, then you just yell "kapow" out of thin air? Are you mental?"

"Sure am," he said cheerfully. "You should be happy that I'm not picking you out of my teeth as we speak."

"Wha–?"

Future Sheen threw his head back and laughed again, and she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I'm just going to pretend like you're not a total creep, and get on with my life."

In the pilot's chair, Aurora worked her customary magic at the controls. The Earth, which moments before had been no more than a lustrous blue drop in the distance, swelled in size until its hazy arc filled the whole front window. Aurora set the astronomical equivalent of a parking brake, and scarcely a second later, a flashing light appeared on the dashboard.

"Hmm, that's odd..."

"What's odd?" asked Jimmy.

"Sensors are tripping all over the cargo bay," answered Aurora. "According to this reading, the bay doors are opening. But why would the bay doors be opening?" She whipped around and scowled accusingly at the kids. "Did one of you idiots touch something while I was gone?"

Before they could defend themselves on this account, Cindy pointed out the front window with a gasp.

"A ship! Aurora, it's Nav's ship!"

"What?"

The streak of the spacecraft registered in Aurora's peripheral vision, and she jerked back toward the window just in time to see the _Shahada _rocket away in the opposite direction.

"Um, Aurora," began Cindy, "I don't want to jump to any conclusions or anything, but...I think it's leaving!"

"Any chance it's on autopilot?" suggested Jimmy.

Aurora ran a life signs scan on the retreating vessel, then shook her head slowly. "Scan says there are two life forms aboard: April, and – hold on, the other ID is coming through now – Carl?"

The redhead waved. "I'm right here!"

Cindy rolled her eyes. "She means the other Carl, you twit."

"I don't get it!" jabbered Sheen. "Why is skinny Carl carpooling with April on her dead fiancé's spaceship?"

"Not the way I would have worded it," said Jimmy, "but that is an excellent question. Do you have any idea what's going on, Aurora? Would she take him away by force?"

Aurora injected a little too much indifference into her voice. "It wouldn't surprise me if April resorted to a little .24 caliber motivation, if that's what you mean."

"But why hightail it out of here the second we emerge from hyperspace?" pondered Jimmy. "And why take Carl along, willing or not? It's so strange. All signs point to a planned escape, so she must have had a reason..."

"Hold on. We're being hailed." Aurora fiddled with the controls, and a holographic video screen popped up over the dashboard. "It's a recorded transmission. Playing file now."

An image of April appeared, grim-faced, from within the static of the recording. Poor lighting and low-tech video equipment obscured most of the _Shahada'_s cockpit, but Future Carl's shirt appeared as a white patch in the background.

"Aurora, I am sorry that you must find out this way, but I am leaving. I do not begrudge you the freedom to make your own choices, but I cannot continue with you down your current path. Please do not inconvenience yourself by searching for me; I will return home as soon as I take care of business elsewhere. As you may have deduced, Carl has elected to accompany me on the first leg of my journey, though he has rejected my offer to send a farewell message of his own."

The static of the video made it impossible to determine whether the Gorlock woman's next expression was a smile or a grimace.

"Perhaps this is my fault. Perhaps I should have guessed from the beginning that you and I would return to where we began. You cannot come between the pale, homely female and her mate, am I right? Forgive me. That was an unkind remark then, and it is an unkind one now."

She lowered her head. "For what it's worth, Aurora, I wish you happiness. It was never easy, surviving what we did, but I am glad we had ten years together. I will never regret our friendship. In that spirit, I hope you do not mind if I take full ownership of the _Desperado _once I return to Planet Gorlock, seeing as you now have the _Half Life_... but perhaps that is a request best left unsaid. One of many things best left unsaid. End transmission."

The screen shrunk and blinked out. Jimmy was the first to find his words.

"That's it? Ten years of friendship, and that's the end of it? An impersonal, one-minute sound bite?"

"Jimmy," said Aurora. "Just let it go."

"But don't you –"

She turned back to face him. "I said, _let it go_." The barely-concealed heartbreak in Aurora's eyes was so jarring that the whole company fell silent. She took a deep breath, then resumed her usual officious manner. "Anyway, we're wasting time. Let's get this tele-party underway."

"But we just dropped out of hyperspace!" protested Future Libby. "What's the rush? Let's hang for a little while, enjoy the view..."

"Libby, prolonging the inevitable isn't going to help."

"Ya, Libs, " interjected Sheen, "be a man! Rip off that band-aid and get it over with – sure, it'll probably gush blood and raise one heck of a killer welt, but that's half the fun!"

Cindy face-palmed. "Sheen, you're not helping..."

"No, it's all right," said Future Libby. "I get what he's sayin'. Aurora, I'm ready when you are. Where do you want us?"

"I can teleport you from anywhere, really, but it'd be easier if you were standing next to each other."

"Right. Come here, Sheen."

She took Future Sheen by the arm and guided him a few paces away from the others. With his hand in hers, Future Libby felt a sense of timelessness, as though only seconds had passed since he first sent her back to Earth a decade before. Aurora, sensing the parallel, ventured a comment as she activated the teleporters.

"It's funny, isn't it? Here you are, back where this whole thing started, standing on the bridge on Jimmy's ship. Only this time, you'll _both_ be going back to Earth."

Future Sheen squirmed, as if uncomfortable inside his own skin. "Let's just forget about all that, OK? I'd like to pretend the last ten years didn't happen, if that's all right with you."

Aurora considered for a moment, then her expression softened. "Sorry. I didn't mean to bring up unpleasant memories." She snapped her fingers. "You know what? I have a better idea. Let's make a new, happier memory for you guys, shall we?"

Bending over, she fished around under the dashboard.

"Uh...what are you doing?" asked Jimmy.

"Looking for – Aha! _This._" Aurora flicked a hidden switch, and the whole far wall began to creak and rattle. "All right, noobs, get ready to have your minds blown."

The wall lifted up and retracted into the ceiling like a garage door, and the whole company followed it with their eyes. Libby dropped her magazine; beyond the partition was a room made entirely of glass. Floor, ceiling, and walls twinkled like a prism, catching and refracting every speck of luminescence, from the sun's rays to faraway pinpricks of starlight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Observation Deck, home of one of the coolest views you'll ever see."

Everyone except Aurora darted into the room, oohing and awwing at the sight. Beyond the kleersteel windows, planet Earth stretched out in a cinematic panorama. Blue waters lapped against the continents, and a vast storm churned over the Atlantic, sparking now and again as lightning rippled through the cloud cover. Bottomless, star-studded blackness extended beneath their feet, while up above the moon formed a softly-glowing roof.

Future Libby rested her hands on the glass. "This is so cool! Almost like a glassbottom boat... except you can look above you, out in front of you, _and_ down below you at the same time!"

Carl cowered at the cutoff point, where the opaque ground of the cockpit gave way to the transparent floor of the observation deck. "I don't like it...it makes me feel like there's no up and down..."

Jimmy poked his head into each of the corners, inspecting the window joints and taking quick measurements using his thumb and forefinger. "The structure of these observation portals is fascinating...Aurora, how did you know this room was back here?"

"I just had two whole hours to mine the ships' log for information. I could _dazzle_ you with my knowledge of the _Half Life_'s inner workings. Now, let's get those teleporters fired up..."

Aurora waved her hand over a section of the dashboard, and a cluster of holographic controls popped up. She muttered numbers to herself, input some data, and then motioned for the kids to join her.

"Cindy, Jimmy, Sheen, Carl, Libby – come back into the cockpit, just while I finish these calculations. I wouldn't want any of you to get sucked down to Shangri Llama by accident. Libs, you ready?"

Future Libby swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. Aurora finished up the last of the calibrations, then set the switch to initiate a countdown from 00:30. As the numbers clicked down toward zero, Aurora walked onto the observation deck, smiling wistfully at her friend.

"30 seconds to tell me anything you've been holding in for the past ten years."

Future Libby bit her lip. "This is killin' me, girl. I don't want to leave you."

"I know. But someday things will get better. I promise."

"I don't want you to promise that," she said angrily. "I want you to promise me that you won't just disappear again, and that I won't have to spend the rest of my life wonderin' what happened to you. The universe is so empty, Aurora. It will erase you if you wander too far."

"It erases all of us sooner or later, Libs."

"Just promise me!"

"All right," sighed Aurora, "I promise. Stay safe, OK? And try not to be too happy. You'll make me jealous."

"Aurora..."

"Five seconds. Close your eyes."

"At least give me a hug before I go?"

"Of course..."

Aurora wrapped her arms around her friend a second too late. Future Libby disintegrated in a wave of rolling light, and Aurora was left embracing an imprint in the air. After a moment, that too faded, and Aurora's arms dropped to her sides. She stood there, immobile, for a long while, then wandered back over to the pilot's chair and sank into it. Aurora swiveled around to stare out the front window, her breaths rising and falling in the slow rhythm of one weary and close to surrender. At last her head slumped down into her arms, and she buried her face in the crook of her elbow. She didn't speak a parting word, or clench her jaw in anger, or shed tears – she merely laid there in dead silence, as though all the life had gone out of her.

Jimmy drew back a step. "Uh...guys? We should probably, you know, give her some space..."

...

When Future Libby opened her eyes again, she and Future Sheen were standing not on the observation deck, but on the outskirts of Shangri Llama. Still tingling from the teleporter, Libby reached over and tugged Sheen's arm, and he opened his eyes. A breeze played over them as they stared at the cluster of ornate buildings, bathed in the gold light of early morning.

"So...what do you think?" she asked after a pause.

There was another moment of silence before Future Sheen hit her with his deadpan response. "...They are gonna throw us a CRAZY party tonight, aren't they."

"Yup," she chuckled, then nodded toward the gates. "Come on."

They started off across the meadow toward the town, plumes of sandy soil rising in their wake.

"Chen-Yu ought to be gettin' up any minute for his sunrise meditation, or his 'morning meds', as we like to call them. I can't wait to see the look on his face when the two of us come waltzin' in."

"Do we really have to waltz?" winced Future Sheen. "'Cause I gotta warn you, I kind of have two left feet."

"Who waltzes these days? Anyone with a lick of sense knows that it's all about the hip-hop and the Sri-Nuan."

"The whatty-what?"

"It's a kind of Thai dance with gorgeous instrumentals. You'll see."

Future Sheen stopped to pluck a flower along the way, and he offered it to Future Libby with a grin. She tucked it behind her ear as they approached the entrance.

"First order of business is to get us some breakfast," he said, patting his belly, "and I'm not talking about a few pieces of toast and an orange."

"That can be arranged."

"No, I'm serious. I don't want to graze like a cow, I want to _eat_ a cow. And a pig. And a chicken. And anything else the monks feel like piling on a plate and plopping in front of my face. In fact, I'm gonna go out on a limb right now and wager ten bucks that I can eat twice as many eggs as you."

"For ten bucks, I'd say three times as many."

"You're on!"

They halted in front of the main gate, and she rubbed the bare spot on her finger where her betrothal ring used to be. "Second order of business is to give you a bath. And find you a shirt. I think Sun-hi would have a heart attack if she saw you like that. I know I would."

"What's this?" said Future Sheen smugly. "Little woman doesn't like seeing this gorgeous chunk of man shirtless?"

"No, it's just –"

"Well too bad! I'll run around in the buff every day for the rest of my life if I want to, and there is nothing you can do to stop me."

She gave him a sly look. "I'd threaten to do the same, but somehow I don't think it'd be much of a deterrent."

"You see?" He slapped his leg. "Gorgeous _and_ smart. How _do_ you cram so much perfection into one body?"

She shrugged. "Born with it. Now c'mon, the sooner we go inside, the sooner we can get you that breakfast."

The main doors creaked as she pushed them open, and the usual sights and smells of Shangri Llama greeted her: the fragrance of plum blossoms and incense, and the airy comfort of houses whose windows never close. He followed her in, oblivious to all the beauty waiting for him on the other side.

"Hey Libs? D'you think you could wear some flowers in your hair at tonight's party? 'Cause that daisy thing you've got on now...it's really nice..."

"Sure thing. I know just the ones..."

Future Libby cast one last look over her shoulder – up at the sky, up at limitless adventure and mystery in the stars beyond Earth's downy atmosphere, up at a galaxy of possibilities. Then the doors closed behind her.

* * *

So you remember how I swore up and down that I would never give any of the characters in TOSOT a kissing scene?  
Well, I lied. ;P

Make sure to tell me what you thought of the chapter...running commentary is the tasty blood cocktail to my inner vampire!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	51. Raison d'être

Apologies in advance for the first couple pages...Future Jimmy started in on his technobabble and I couldn't get him to stop. ;)

Illustration (remove spaces and substitute . where it says dot): acacia th orn. d ev ian t art(dot)com/art/Don-t-Leave-Me-260225822

* * *

**Chapter 51: _Raison d'être_**

Back on board the _Half Life_, Future Jimmy wandered onto the bridge to discover Aurora still face-down at the control console, blue suit gleaming in the light of Earth's sun. The children, meanwhile, stood mute in their circle, hands clasped and eyes downcast, like mourners at a funeral. Goddard, standing close at heel, whimpered, and the kids swung toward the sound. Aurora unfurled slowly, her chair creaking as she swiveled round to face Future Jimmy. Her beauty was a stab wound, and it took all his strength to stroll forward with a scientific air.

"I have devised a solution to the problem," he announced. The kids blinked at him dumbly, and he shook his head, catching himself. "What I mean to say is, I have discovered a method for cross-universe transportation. I know how to send you home."

Cindy stepped away from the others and planted a hand on her hip. "Did you finally manage to replicate that stupid triangle? I hope you toned it down a bit, 'cause I'm not exactly looking forward to getting sucked down the cosmic drain again."

"No cosmic drains will be involved, you have my word. Then again, neither will the triangle."

He opened his hand, revealing a scaled-down version of Jimmy's matter-compressing invention, the _Hypercube._

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Jimmy.

"Yes. This is the Hypercube 2.0, an improved version of its predecessor, and the best storage device I've ever built."

Future Jimmy closed his eyes for a moment, as if willing the invention to obey his thoughts. Evidently it did, because five tiny metal discs popped out into his waiting hand.

Cindy moved in for a closer look. "Wait a minute...I recognize those heinous disco buttons. Aren't those the memory processing kernels you just used to zap our brains back in your lab?"

"...You did _what_ to them, Neutron?" demanded Aurora in a slow, threatening voice.

Cindy waved away Aurora's tirade before she could make it. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. Let's focus on the question at hand. Pretending for a second that I would _ever _voluntarily use one of those brain suckers again, how on God's green earth would they help us get back to our universe?"

"Do you want the abridged version, or the full scientific explanation?"

Before the others could stop him, Jimmy chimed in with an answer. "The full scientific explanation, please. "

"No!" shouted Cindy and Sheen in unison.

"Sweet cankles of Robofiend, our sanity is on the line! Have mercy!"

Future Jimmy's eyebrows shot up ever so slightly. "Mercy, you say? Very well, the shortened version it is – although I will attempt to give you some background first." He straightened his collar in the manner of a professor about to give a complex lecture. "As you may imagine, the physics of travel through the multiverse are immensely difficult to understand. For the purpose of our discussion, we need only focus on the number one problem preventing your easy return home: the randomness of the jumps between universes. It's actually quite simple to travel through the multiverse, but choosing a specific destination is another matter."

"Clarify?" said Jimmy.

"You ended up in this reality entirely by chance," Future Jimmy explained. "Even if I were to exactly replicate the invention that brought you here, there is no guarantee that it would return you to your point of origin. It could send you to any one of a nearly infinite number of universes where the necessary atoms for building a human body are extant."

"So," began Libby, "if you just zapped us with Jimmy's triangle again, we could end up literally _anywhere?"_

"Thank you for paraphrasing what I just said."

Libby glared at the former Dictator. "Look, I'm runnin' real low on patience here. We _all_ know you've figured out a genius solution, so just save-the-drama-for-yo-mama and _tell_ us what it is! I wanna go home!"

"I must make a note to eradicate that phrase from existence once you're gone," frowned Future Jimmy. "I think the entire universe would benefit from its absence."

Aurora snickered a little, but Libby continued to glare.

"Have it your way, then," he said. "The 'genius solution' boils down to this: while it's practically impossible to send your physical body to a deliberate destination within the multiverse, it _is_ possible to transport your consciousness using your memories as a map."

"Wait, what?" blurted Cindy. "How the heck did you figure that out?"

Libby made a face. "Cin, don't encourage him!"

"Sorry! I couldn't help it!"

"Over the years I've conducted a fair amount of research relating to what I like to call 'the science of sentience'. I've worked with dream technology, out-of-body transport, artificial intelligence, memory alteration – you name it. Approximately three years ago, I began an intensive experiment on lucid dreaming. My official reason for beginning the research was to maximize invention output – after all, think how much productivity would increase if I could maintain full conscious control while asleep. On a more personal level, I was also suffering from some…unpleasant nocturnal hallucinations at the time and wanted to find a way to banish them."

"You were having nightmares?" frowned Aurora. "About what?"

"The content of my dreams is not up for discussion."

She seemed puzzled, and he didn't elaborate.

"The experiment was a failure," he went on, "but my research didn't end there. When I realized that I could not completely control my sleeping brain, my curiosity took over, and I turned my attention to the nature of dreams themselves. What you might not realize, is that there is a constant blurring of the lines between all the realities that exist in the multiverse. The brain has evolved to filter this out, so that we only perceive that which resides in our immediate dimension. However, during REM sleep – and in the brains of individuals who suffer from disorders like schizophrenia – the filter stops functioning at full power. What you see when you dream is actually the product of your subconscious coming into contact with the different realities of the multiverse. Your brain tries to make sense of the bits and pieces, resulting in the strange and disjointed world of dreams."

"Wow," exclaimed Carl, "no wonder I saw killer lima beans!"

Everyone present gave the redhead a strange look, and he shuffled back out of sight.

"At any rate," continued Future Jimmy, "I created several inventions that allow a person to temporarily send their sleeping mind to whichever universe it wants to inhabit. The destination is selected using positive brain wave patterns, but in your case I would substitute memory data and make the transfer permanent..."

"Wait a minute," broke in Jimmy, "do you really expect me to believe that a person's sense of self exists independently of their physical brain? You do realize that you're advocating something akin to the concept of a soul. That's ludicrous and contradicts everything we know about evolutionary psychology!"

He shrugged. "The brain is a versatile organ. It is capable of detecting and inhabiting the myriad of universes all around us. I will use the memory processing kernels to download everything that happened in the moments before you first used the triangle on Cindy. Using those memories, I will locate your universe or one nearly identical to it. I will then override your minds in that universe with the current configuration of your brains, thus "transferring" your current set of memories and experiences into your old bodies. If you want to equate the mobility of sentience to "soul", then that's your choice."

"Wait, I'm confused," said Carl, "Why are you sending us back to before Jimmy used the triangle on Cindy? Why can't you send us back to just...now?"

"Don't be obtuse, Carl," huffed Cindy. "If the transport relies on memory, he can't send us back to any point after we initially left."

"...Why?"

"Because we wouldn't have been around to remember it, moron!"

"Precisely," nodded the former Dictator. "Furthermore, if I were to send you to any point in time after Jimmy used the triangle on Cindy, it would result in a repeat of her fate. Therefore, the best option is to return you to the moments immediately preceding her initial exposure."

"Hold on..." said Jimmy. "If you return us to our universe before I used the triangle on Cindy, and I choose not to use it this time, then we'd be re-writing history. Won't that affect events in this universe? If I don't send Cindy out to the flagpole, then we never get dragged here. If we never show up, we never meet Aurora, and the antidote plan never exists. The council goes ahead with the battle as planned, and you and Aurora are right back where you started, trying to kill each other. We can't let that happen!"

"It _won't_ happen," assured Future Jimmy. "Assuming my reasoning is correct, and I'm 99.9% certain that it is, paradoxes do not carry across universes. By sending you kids back to the point in time before Jimmy used the triangle on Cindy, you will be in effect changing one of your choices, _thus creating a whole new universe_. The reason that Aurora's and my universe won't be affected is that somewhere, your original universe – the one where you used the triangle and never came back – will continue to exist."

"That's no good... what about our friends and families in our original universe? They'll be heartbroken if we just vanish forever!"

"There are countless universes, including billions where you have died or were never even born at all. Are you going to worry about all of them as well? The only reality that matters is the one you inhabit; you cannot concern yourself with the rest, or you will go insane."

"This conversation has me halfway there already," despaired Cindy. "I think my head's about to explode."

Jimmy rubbed his eyebrows. "Mine too, if that makes you feel any better."

"It does. There's one thing I don't get, though: if you're just transporting our consciousnesses back to our home universe, what will happen to our bodies here?"

"They will return to their original state as a mere assemblage of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, and trace elements," replied Future Jimmy. "To put it in plain terms, you'll disintegrate into your component atoms. Ashes to ashes, if you will."

Carl shrunk away. "I don't know if I like the idea of my body turning into dust..."

"Happens to all of us sooner or later," shrugged Future Jimmy.

"OK," said Libby, "I've been thrown some curve-balls during my crazy adventures with you guys, but this is just too much. Ain't no way I'm cool with crumblin' away into a human cat-box!"

"I suggest you don't worry about it too much, since it won't actually affect you. The important parts – your awareness and self-identity – won't be harmed. I wouldn't even have told you if Cindy here hadn't asked point blank."

Libby shivered. "I wish you hadn't told us. _Major_ TMI."

"Come on, Libby," said Sheen, "it's not so bad. Think of the perks! After we've been zapped back to our universe, DJ and Aurora can make sandcastles out of our dust! Speaking of which, can I make a request? I'd like you to make a Sheen-shaped sculpture from my ashes, but give me beefy arms and a bushy dingo tail. Think you can you do that?"

Future Jimmy threw Aurora a stricken look, and she intervened on his behalf.

"OK, this conversation has officially jumped the shark. We need to get a move on here. There's no sense sitting around discussing the mechanics of the thing if you're not going to do it." She caught herself, and her expression fell. "If Nav were here right now, that definitely would've earned me a 'that's what she said'."

The kids exchanged uncomfortable glances, unsure whether to be sad or amused. Future Jimmy had by that time regained enough mastery over himself to limit his reaction to subdued contrition. Dropping his gaze, he busied himself with adjusting the settings on the kernels. Jimmy, keenly aware of the sudden awkwardness, tried to break the silence.

"Well, um, time's a-wasting, so...let's start the memory extraction, shall we?"

"Right. Stand still."

Future Jimmy leaned forward and affixed the first of the memory extraction kernels to Jimmy's temple. He repeated the action with Carl, then with Sheen, who flashed his freckled friend a grin and an exaggerated thumbs-up. Cindy snatched the fourth kernel from Future Jimmy's grip before he could press it against her forehead.

"I can put it on myself, thanks."

"Apologies. I forgot about your planet-sized sense of autonomy."

Cindy merely scowled in response, and Future Jimmy approached Libby last of all. She clenched her jaw as he placed the device on her forehead, and even after he turned away, her arms continued to quiver. Noticing, Cindy leaned in to whisper to her friend.

"What's up, Libs? Care to tell me what's got you so miffed?"

Libby bit her lip. "It's _him,_ Cin."

"His royal evilness, you mean? Ya, he's kind of a tool."

"No, I'm serious. He _really_ wigs me out. I don't care if he's 'reformed' or whatever, he still stares like a creeper, and I don't like the idea of leavin' him alone with Aurora. I kinda wish April were here, she was pretty darn solid..."

"Listen, Libs, like him or not, he's our ticket out of here. There's nothing more we can do about any of this madness. It's out of our hands, so just take a deep breath and try not to worry about it, OK?"

"Whatever you say, girl..."

Future Jimmy cleared his throat. "Memory download commencing..."

The memory kernels stared to whir, and Jimmy's eyes flashed worriedly as an idea occurred to him. "This won't be loaded into some sort of shared memory bank, will it? When we did this back in your lab, you could see our memories. The others won't be able to see mine, will they?"

"Everyone's memories will remain separate during this phase of the process," reassured Future Jimmy. "Now, for the second phase..."

He tweaked the Hypercube again, and a spherical device materialized above his outstretched hand. It floated in the air of its own accord, rotating and emitting pulses of light at regular intervals.

"This is the _Somnium,_ the consciousness teleporter I mentioned earlier," he explained. "Normally it hovers over your head while you dream, but with some minor modifications I can use it to send all five of your waking minds back to your home universe. I will combine your memories with Goddard's, which I downloaded earlier, inside its core. Using this information, the _Somnium _will determine a destination."

The kernels pinged in unison, signaling that they'd completed their task. Future Jimmy collected the kernels, then commenced his usual incomprehensible techno-fiddling. Moments later, the flashing orb _Somnium _reversed direction and began to glow a constant electric blue.

"All set. If you will gather together in a group just over there, I will prep _Somnium_ for the transfer..."

"No, wait..." said Jimmy. "Hold on a second. We're not ready to go just yet."

"We're not?" questioned Carl.

The boy genius waved his friends over to him. "Come here, you guys..."

Huddling into a circle, they traded hushed words, heads packed close together. Future Jimmy and Aurora exchanged glances, but left the members of the group to their private discussion. Eventually Jimmy nodded, and all five of the kids straightened and looked Aurora's way.

"Listen," said Jimmy, "we've talked it over, and we all agree: we have some things to say to Aurora before we go. Cindy?"

The blonde stepped forward. "We just want to thank you for everything you've done for us. If we hadn't run into you back on that desert planet, well... I don't want to think what would've happened to us."

"You've fed us, and kept us safe, and brought us all over space and stuff," added Carl. "I know you're just a messed up future version of Cindy, but I'm glad we met you."

"It's hard to believe that we're never gonna see you again," said Libby. "These last couple of days, you've been like a mom to us. Even though you're kinda crazy..."

"...and mean..." added Sheen.

"...and completely devoid of maternal warmth –"

"All right," growled Cindy, "she _gets_ it."

"...even despite all those things," continued Libby, "we couldn't imagine anyone we'd rather have protecting us..."

"...except Ultralord..."

"...and we wanted to tell you how much we're goin' to miss you. We'll never forget you."

"No matter what," finished Jimmy.

"Group hug!"

Sheen dive-tackled the pilot, and the others followed suit. They crowded around Aurora, embracing her from all angles, and she went stiff as a board. Squirming in the abruptness of their affection, she patted each of them on the head, her face the color of a ripe tomato.

"Aww, she's blushing!" squealed Carl. "She must really like us!"

Aurora's discomfort was so evident, and her reaction so charmingly awkward, that Future Jimmy had to hide a smile. He scuffed the sole of his shoe against the floor, trying to make sense of Aurora's ability to shoot an enemy in cold blood one day, and earn the admiration of children the next.

"There, there..." patted Aurora, "Ya, OK, I'll miss you too..."

One by one, the kids released their grip and stepped away – except Carl, who missed the cue and had to be pried off by the others.

Aurora dusted off her arms, as if specks of affection might still be clinging to her. "Well, now that you've got _that_ out of your system, I think we can get down to business. Neutron?"

"Ready when they are," he replied, still holding the _Somnium._

Wordlessly, Jimmy, Cindy, Carl, Sheen, Libby, and Goddard bunched together. Cindy threw Aurora a salute, which the pilot returned respectfully. Carl's 'secret-llama-friends bye-bye wave' was less well received. With a nod from his younger self, Future Jimmy pushed his palm upward, and the _Somnium_ lifted gently, floating like a balloon into the air above their heads.

"You guys...stay out of trouble, OK?" said Aurora. "Try not to screw up our futures too much. _Think_ before you do something stupid, and whatever you do, don't take anything you have for granted. You never know when it all might come crashing down."

Her audience nodded solemnly, and Future Jimmy pointed up toward the revolving orb. "I've started the transfer. Take care of yourselves, everybody."

The _Somnium_ picked up speed, and as it did, it began to emit a swarm of particles, which sprinkled earthward like holographic fairy dust. Jimmy extended his hands, frowning as one pixel after another alighted on his palms.

"Is this...digital precipitation?"

The particles grew progressively larger, and the kids gazed up at the device in wonder. The pixels caught in their eyelashes like snowflakes, and Sheen opened his mouth to collect a few on his tongue. Libby took a gander at her arms, which were becoming increasingly encrusted in glitter.

"This ain't no precipitation," she declared. "We're being Bedazzled, that's what's goin' on."

As more pixels snowed down, something odd started to happen. The light melted into their skin, their clothes, their hair, and wherever it sank in, it leeched the color from their bodies. Square by square, they changed from living color to black-and-white.

Sheen looked over his friends with a grin. "Whoa, I wish you guys could see yourselves! You're turning into the pictures in my Grandma's attic!"

The glowing flakes piled up until they had eaten away the last patches of color. As the kids faded to grayscale, their energy started to fade along with it. Eyelids drooping lower, the travelers entered into a pleasant torpor, somewhere between sleeping and waking.

"I can't keep my eyes open," yawned Libby.

Carl's lids flickered shut. "Me...neither..."

After a gentle sigh, their heads lolled forward, and Jimmy, Cindy, Libby, Carl, Sheen, and Goddard fell silent. Their stillness solidified, and for several moments they could have easily be mistaken for statues. Then their feet and fingers began to crumble. Chunks fell, rock-like, from their extremities, only to burst into powder-fine dust upon impact with the ground. Aurora swallowed nervously as the disintegration spread to their cores.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Neutron."

"If this part of the transfer unsettles you, it might behoove you to look away."

"You should know better than anyone that it takes a lot more than this to make me look away."

Their heads crumbled last of of all, and Aurora had to force herself to watch. Future Jimmy studied her expression as the last fragments hit the ground. Without taking her eyes off the remains, she knelt down slowly, then scooped up a handful and sifted it through her fingers.

"Heh. I never thought I'd have so much in common with a pile of dust." She exhaled shakily, then got back to her feet. "Clean up this mess, will you? The last thing we need is a bunch of sand getting into the electronics."

Future Jimmy waved his hand over the Hypercube, and it pulled everything back in – the memory kernels, the _Somnium,_ and the ashes on the floor all vanished in a quick burst of light. Rolling the Hypercube over in his palm, Future Jimmy proceeded to the front of the cockpit. He placed the invention on the dashboard, then turned to face Aurora again, folding his hands behind his back.

"So. We're alone now."

Aurora nodded once to acknowledge his statement, then folded her hands behind her back as well. She strolled toward the observation deck, and he followed her with his eyes. As she stepped onto the glass, the windows multiplied her reflection, cascading her image out row upon row upon row. He took in the sight without a word, then meandered over to join her. Aurora and Future Jimmy stood side by side on the deck, gazing down at the mute blue Earth far below. It was a long while before either of them ventured a comment.

"It looks exactly the same, doesn't it?" observed Aurora. "Same expanse of water, same bands of green and brown, same drifting wisps of cloud..."

"That's how all habitable planets look from this altitude," he said blandly. "Landmasses, liquid bodies, atmospheric phenomena. It's nothing remarkable."

"That's not quite what I meant."

"I know what you meant. You meant that, looking down like this, it's easy to imagine that everything is exactly as we left it. It's easy to imagine streets and cities teeming with people – people who are simply too far away for us to see. I know how easy it is, because I've spent the last ten years just like this, looking out at reality from the wrong end of a telescope. The tragedies of individual beings are invisible from this height."

There was a pause.

"I don't know if anyone's ever told you this," she said, "but you have a real penchant for monologuing."

"And you have a penchant for snide remarks in lieu of substantive conversation," he shot back.

Aurora turned to face him. "What's this? Has your snark generator recovered already? And here I was, thinking I'd have to wait a couple of days for your old sense of humor to return..."

"Yes, how fortunate that my unpleasant demeanor survived the transformation. You must be thrilled."

"Is that self-deprecating humor I detect? My, we _are_ feeling saucy today, aren't we Neutron?"

He continued to appraise the window with a grim expression on his face, as if choosing his next words carefully. "Aurora, now that they've all gone, there's a matter I've been meaning to bring up. I have an offer to make you, and I would like you to consider it seriously."

"Oh? Go on."

He met her eyes, and she drew her shoulders up a little tighter, as if bracing herself against his gaze.

"Pretend that you have no obligations, no plans, nothing holding you back. All you have to do is snap your fingers, and you can attain whatever you want, go wherever you desire. A number of unfulfilled wishes _must_ spring to mind. Care to tell me what they are?"

"Is there a reason you're trying to sell me a hypothetical vacation package?" she asked warily.

"It doesn't have to be hypothetical," he said. "In ten minutes time I could create a new identity for you, and within twenty-four hours you could be anywhere in the galaxy, with a brand new spacecraft, ample funds, and a clean slate. There is no need for you to continue playing with the cards you've been dealt. Name a destination, any destination, and I will ship you there."

"I'm sorry, back up a sec...let me see if I heard you correctly. Did you just say that you want to 'ship me' somewhere? Am I a FedEx package now? I hope you can explain where this genius idea came from, because aside from referring to me like an inanimate object, it sounds an awful lot like you're trying to buy me off."

"Back in the sick bay you said that you intended to make sure I atoned for my actions, and I agree that I need to spend the rest of my life trying to undo the damage I've done. But why should your name be dragged through the mud in the process? I cannot allow you to become involved in fighting my demons if it means the destruction of your reputation and the surrender of your freedom."

Her eyebrows snapped down, transforming her expression into a livid glare. "News flash, Neutron: I'm _already_ involved, so you can take your new-found concern for my welfare and _shove it_."

He returned her gaze coldly. "You prideful woman. Do you think I am unaware of what you've sacrificed in the past 24 hours alone? Nothing that happens aboard this ship escapes my attention. I know that April took Carl away on the _Shahada _as soon as we dropped out of hyperspace. I put a trace on their projected destination, but the trajectory leads to empty space. April's hiding her tracks by breaking the jump into pieces, and I know why. I know what happened between you and April back on my base, and I am keenly aware of the part I played in it."

"So I knocked her lights out. So what? I did the same to you, and Libby did the same to Sheen. It was a product of the situation, nothing more. Do yourself a favor and stop over-analyzing everything."

"I'm not over-analyzing, I am simply adding another item to my already prodigious list of transgressions. If you stopped and reflected for a moment, you would see my point. Forget the decade's worth of anonymous victims that I murdered simply for the thrill of power...My crimes against you personally would be enough to put me away for life. Frankly, I do not understand how can you endure being in the same room with me. Doesn't it make your skin crawl?"

"Guess I'm just a glutton for punishment," she shrugged.

"That's not funny."

"Sure it is. Give it a couple of days."

"Continue to hide behind humor if you want," he glowered. "It won't change the reality of our situation. I have examined the issue from every angle, and there's only one logical course of action: we need to go our separate ways. I've been dictating the terms of your existence for far too long. It's time for you to live your own life."

For a second her eyes flashed wide in terror, then she grabbed him by the collar. "Don't you DARE patronize me like that! I thought that maybe, with everything that's happened, your ego would've shrunk down to a more manageable size, but clearly I was wrong."

"Well, pardon my sudden humanity," he scowled. "Shall I go back to gloating and locking you in prison cells for weeks on end? I would be happy to oblige your predilection for torture, if that's what you'd like."

"Don't give me that! You're not concerned with my well-being – you're protecting yourself from the guilt you feel every time you lay eyes on me. Well I've got news for you, pal. If you turn away from me, you will never truly confront what you did. Don't resolve with me, and you will never reach any resolution at all. So go ahead and hate yourself for your crimes, wrestle with the tough questions, search for ways to cope. Do whatever you have to do, but do _not_ shut me out."

"I am not trying to shut you out," said Future Jimmy. "I am trying to improve your prospects for the future."

"Screw you! Do you realize what a jackass you're being right now? If you think you can get rid of me that easily, then you are sorely mistaken. I want you to face me fully, look me in the eye, and deal with everything that you feel. The only way we can come to terms with any of this is if we first come to terms with each other."

He looked her up and down, thoughtfully silent, and Aurora's bold words became deserters on her tongue. She shoved him away in a jolt of fear, and he skidded to a stop beside the largest of the observation windows. She retreated a few paces, unnerved.

"M-my point is, if you're going to stare out at reality from the wrong end of a telescope, I'd better be the one calibrating the damn settings. You'd have to be an idiot to think it could be otherwise."

He sensed her sudden vulnerability, and it took all his self control not to act on it. He let his gaze fall to the side. "I still cannot comprehend why you insist on this course of action."

"Then let me explain it to you, buddy."

She backed him up to the window, and the glass squeaked as his shoulder blades pressed against it. Aurora leaned over him, their bodies silhouetted as one shape against the vast oceans and sweeping plains down below.

"Are you certain you wish to test me like this, Aurora?" A blaze broke out over the surface of his suit, and lukewarm flames rose up from his chest and slithered around Aurora. "I could easily burn a hole through this window and send myself tumbling into oblivion."

"If you break this window, then I'll fall with you. Is that what you want?"

"Is that what YOU want?"

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Enough already. I'm staying with you, and that's all there is to it. And don't look at me like I'm some kind of martyr, because my motivation hasn't changed. Only my method has."

"And what motivation would that be?"

She grinned, showing a few too many teeth. "_Revenge_. I'm pursuing this course of action for one reason only, and that's to torment _you._ If you were to pursue atonement alone, you might someday find peace of mind...but as long as I'm around, you'll never be able to escape from what you did." She traced her finger down his jawline. "Now, when you sit alone in a room, whether you stare blankly ahead or shut your eyes, it'll be _my_ face that you see. I'll be in the air you breathe and the water you drink. Like the suit you wear, I'll be the one ingrained into _your _skin. How's _that _for poetic justice_, _my self-professed _raison d'être_?"

He seized her by the shoulders, and fear once again splashed over her like ice water. Before she could pull away, he swung her round and slammed her back against the glass. The air fled her lungs, and she felt her control slipping as the warmth from his body bled into her.

"I'm not without an appreciation for irony, but if you're really trying to punish me, then I think you might be making a serious miscalculation. What happens if our relationship becomes more than just a dialectic of guilt and obligation?"

A trace of their old rivalry gleamed in his eye, and elation surged through Aurora. "All the greater the torment!" she said wildly.

He yanked her off the window and shoved her away from him, and she stumbled back with a triumphant laugh.

"Do you finally get it? You can't win this one, Neutron. For the first time in our lives, I truly have the upper hand. This is checkmate, my oh-too-clever friend. I _own_ you now, and there's nothing you can do about it, because you know darn well that you deserve it. So stop treating me like a freaking victim, because that's not what I am. I'm self-centered, and I'm vengeful, and I'm going to make your life a living hell from this day forth."

This time it was his turn to chuckle as he pushed away from the glass. "I clearly underestimated your capacity for guile, Aurora. If this is indeed your revenge strategy, then... well, my options are limited. You've cornered me masterfully, and you were right: I do deserve it."

Blush crept onto her cheeks, and she clenched her fists, furious at herself for reacting to his praise.

"But," he went on, "just to avoid any confusion, perhaps we should set some ground rules."

"Meaning?"

"Years ago, you tried to convince me to draw up an official 'friendship contract' with you. I thought it was an unforgivably stupid idea at the time, but I'd like to resurrect that treaty now."

"I don't see anything wrong with setting some boundaries. All right, I'll start." She cleared her throat. "Our relationship must remain professional. Any information about my past that I do not volunteer is off limits, and my emotional life is none of your business. You are never to comment on my appearance, and barring a life-or-death situation, you are not allowed to use physically or mentally intrusive technology on me. You will also kindly remember that we are in this together and that macho grandstanding could get us both killed. Agreed?"

"Agreed. Now, for my requirement."

Ice-blue light trickled into his cupped palms, and without thinking, Aurora automatically planted her feet and prepared to kindle fires of her own. He looked up at her from underneath his bangs, and her pulse quickened.

"Aurora. Don't forget what I'm capable of. I am the 1st _Samarkandi – _I exterminated our species, and I burnt the worlds of half a dozen galaxies to the ground. I could kill you faster than I could threaten to kill you. No matter what transpires between us in the future, you must promise that you will never, ever forget what I could do to you. Can you promise me that?"

Not to be outdone, Aurora ramped up her energy output, sending tendrils of flame swirling into the space between them. Her suit's energy mingled with his, and the blue and green tongues coiled around each other in a dazzling inferno.

"And don't you forget what _I'm_ capable of. I'm the infamous rebel in the silver mask. I can fly circles around the best and hold my own against even the most hardened criminals. In the end, _nobody_ can stand in my way, because I can lose everything and still find the will to go on."

His flames went out, and Aurora eased up hers as well. The light died down, and she and Future Jimmy settled into a mutually intelligible silence.

"Well, I guess we understand one another, then," he said.

"Ya. I guess we do."

Returning to the cockpit, he fetched the Hypercube off the dashboard and, cupping it in his open palm, shifted his weight back and forth from one foot to the other. He grinned at her with all the bashful charm of a schoolboy, and for the upteenth time that day Aurora had to reevaluate her opinion of him.

"I was hoping you wouldn't be too stubborn to see reason, but just in case you insisted on staying with me, I made you a present."

"A present?"

"Indeed. See?"

He tapped the Hypercube, and two silver rectangles popped out and dropped down into his waiting hand. Unable to contain her curiosity, Aurora wandered over for a closer look.

"What are they?" she asked.

He flipped the devices open, revealing a pair of keypads, microphones, and two tiny monitors.

"They look like...cell phones. Or really high-tech walkie-talkies."

"More or less," he confirmed. "It was obvious that you would be upset about leaving your best friend behind, so I made these. They are equipped with subspace transmitters that allow calls to travel over vast distances, and they charge kinetically, so they'll never run out of power." He shook them a couple of times to demonstrate. "Even better, they are quadruple encrypted and only capable of dialing one another, so there's little security risk. Of course, even with my unprecedented technical genius, there will still be a bit of lag time between when you talk and when Libby hears it. Subspace technology has its limits, after all..."

"Wait... what are you saying?"

He waved one of them in her face. "Intergalactic cell phones, Aurora. I'm going to teleport this one right into the heart of Shangri Llama, and its built-in flare will ensure that it gets noticed. I will give the other one to you – " he laid the phone in her hand and closed her fingers over it "– and then you and Libby will be able to call each other whenever you want. No long distance charges apply."

Aurora looked down at it incredulously, then back up at him.

"Well?" he prompted.

She burst out laughing, and he took half a step back. Aurora clapped him on the shoulder. "How come I didn't think of something like this? I must've gotten one too many concussions over the years." She tossed the phone up and then snapped it out of the air, grinning hard. "You really outdid yourself this time, Neutron. I don't know how to thank you."

"It was the least I could –"

"No, I mean I _actually_ don't know how to thank you. I don't think I've ever had a reason to thank you before."

He shrugged. "I believe normal social protocol calls for a hug at this juncture, but in our case..."

"Probably not a good idea."

"Right."

"A handshake, then?" she suggested. "Given in the same spirit that the gift was given?"

"Deal."

They hastily shook hands, and Aurora retreated back to the control panel and away from his kindness. She fiddled with the settings, conscious of his eyes on her back and the weight of the phone in her hand.

"Hey Neutron?"

"Yes?"

"We probably shouldn't hang around here too much longer. I have a course set and a destination all picked out. Hurry up and teleport that phone."

"On it."

She watched his reflection in the window as he approached and went about the business of activating the teleporter. After some extensive fidgeting, Aurora could no longer contain herself.

"Neutron?"

He swung around to look at her, though his hands never left the controls. "Yes?"

"Those nightmares you mentioned earlier...the ones that started three years ago...what were they about?"

"New provision of our friendship contract: you are not allowed to interrogate me about what goes on in the privacy of my own mind."

"Oh, that's _hilarious._ This coming from the guy who brain-probes a couple of eleven-year-olds the second my back is turned."

"Why the sudden interest in my dreams, might I ask? Does the knowledge of my fallibility intrigue you? Or perhaps you're simply looking for an excuse to play twenty questions. Here, I'll provide you with your first hint: the subject of my nightmares is bigger than a breadbox, but smaller than a type Ia supernova..."

Aurora studied her cuticles. "I played twenty questions with a prisoner once...or maybe it was ten questions. Or ten fingers. Yes, I believe that was it. Ten fingers. Though, by the end of the interrogation, the game had to be retitled 'zero fingers'..."

"I'll tell you what, Aurora: if you find a way to tie me down and permanently sever all ten of my digits, I swear that I will tell you _anything_ you want to know. How is that for a sporting deal?"

"You know I love a challenge."

He threw her a wry sidelong glance before tapping the final key on the teleporter. The phones vaporized right out of their hands, but they barely noticed. Aurora leaned against the dashboard, tilting her head to the side.

"All this talk of nightmares and persuasion tactics..." she mused. "I'm beginning to think that you and I may have graduated from the same charm school."

"Well, in light of that consideration, perhaps you should drop the subject of nightmares and engage the hyperdrive, before you encounter the kind of charm my education has afforded me."

"Congrats, Neutron," she snorted derisively, "I think I just shat a brick. Way to put the fear of God in me."

He stepped back from the control panel. "At least award me points for originality. I doubt anyone else has threatened you with charm before."

"Hmm, good point. You are the first."

He motioned for her to start the engines, and she sighed.

"All right, hyperdrive it is." She disabled the external initial dampeners, then grabbed hold of the throttle. "Buckle up, Neutron. We're out of here."

* * *

One more chapter, then the epilogue! As always, I appreciate your comments and reviews.

P.S. For those of you who don't know French, raison d'être means "reason for existence", or "reason for being".

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	52. Back to the Beginning

Wow, it's been a long time since we've been back in Retroville. o_O Be prepared to be awed and entertained by Jimmy's latest invention...again ;)**  
**

Illustration (remove space and substitute . for dot): aca cia thor n . dev ian ta rt(dot)com/art/Castaway-252940553

* * *

**Chapter 52: Back to the Beginning**

Jimmy heard his own voice speaking, but found that he was not the one saying the words.

" …Be prepared to be awed and entertained by my latest invention. Before beginning, however, I feel obligated to provide a disclaimer. I warn you, what you are about to see may be too much for your meager minds to comprehend."

Jimmy's surroundings began to swim into focus, and he found himself standing in front of a classroom of blank stares.

Nick tossed up a coin and caught it. "Dude, just get on with it."

"Ya," put in Butch. "Some of us would like to get out of here before we actually learn something."

Jimmy felt himself roll his eyes. ""Ugh, fine. Unimaginative troglodytes...Ahem! Without further ado, I present to you what might possibly be…and I know I've said this before…my greatest invention ever!"

The genius held the triangle up above his head, and when it caught the light, it sparkled with a crimson aura. Britney oohed and aawed at the sight, and it was at this point that Jimmy's consciousness finally jolted back into his body. He doubled over as if punched in the gut, involuntary gasps pouring from his mouth. Before any of the students could comment on his sudden and seemingly unprovoked spasm, Carl made an even greater spectacle of himself.

"Oh my gosh," he yelled to the room, "we're back! We made it you guys! We're back home!"

There was a moment of silence, and then the students broke out into laughter.

"Sweet, dude," snickered Nick. "Glad to hear you're back from your visit to _Retardia._ I hear you're a real celebrity there."

"Not Retardia, another universe! We've been gone for days, and had all sorts of adventures, and oh...I'm so happy to see you guys!"

Sheen, overcome by the convulsive after-effects of his own transport, flew off his chair and rolled onto the floor. He twitched a few times before he was able to hoist himself up onto all fours.

"Gah, how can you be happy at a time like this? We're back in _school, _darn it! School, as in homework and sitting still and extended periods of cartoon deprivation. Think of what we've lost! Weep for it, man! Weep!"

"Dude, what are you talking about?" asked Nick, looking around. "Who are you even talking _to?_"

Butch reclined in his chair, gnawing on the end of his jumbo eraser as though it were a strip of beef jerky. "Haha, Sheen's flipped his lid too! This is awesome!"

Sheen slapped the floor. "Ha! Shows what you know! I never had a lid to begin with!"

Butch picked a chunk of eraser out of his teeth, then stood, brushing rubber shavings off his shirt. "Ladies and gentlemen, as your democratically elected classroom bully, it is my duty (and my pleasure) to mock and humiliate these two on your behalf. On the count of three, say it with me: one, two, three! 'Yes I can!'"

"Yes you can!"

Arms still wrapped around his waist, Jimmy lifted his face just enough to glare at the bully. "Cut it out, Butch. Leave them alone."

"Aha." Butch swiveled round to face the boy genius. "It seems the peanut-head gallery is volunteering to be mocked as well."

Jimmy straightened, his breathing finally under control again. "First of all, it's 'peanut gallery', and second of all, I'm not volunteering. I'm telling you to leave them alone."

"You sure? I don't mind adding you to my 'to mock' list. I _am_ an equal-opportunity bully, after all..."

"Butch, I said it once, and I won't say it again. S_hut up_ and _sit down."_

"_Ooooooh..." _chorused the students.

"Oh yeah, peanut-head?" challenged Butch, darkening. "Who's gonna make me?"

Miss Fowl opened her mouth to intervene, but her chicken-like squawk was drowned out by the sound of gasps. To everyone's surprise, Cindy jumped up out of her seat, red-faced and breathing heavily.

"_Me._" The blonde slammed her pencil down on her desk, and the classroom went so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop.

Butch looked confused. "Wait...what just happened?"

"I _interceded,_ you brainless git. Look it up." She scowled from one face to the next, doing a sweep of the whole room. "Now, before you morons _rudely_ interrupted, I believe Neutron was in the middle of showing us his stupid sparkly invention. Am I right?"

"I – err – yes," replied Jimmy.

"He was also telling us about the hallucinogenic effects of the triangle, and how it can induce random outbursts in some viewers, _isn't that right_?"

Jimmy stared open-mouthed for a second before snapping back to his senses. He nodded vigorously, impressed by Cindy's cover-up.

"Yes, that's exactly what I was explaining. You'll have to forgive Carl and Sheen, everybody, they simply had a bad reaction to the invention."

"Precisely. A bad reaction," echoed the blonde.

"Cindy, girl, like...how do you know so much about his invention thingy?" asked Britney. "I like totally don't remember this being a partner show 'n tell."

"It isn't. I just –"

"She just helped me design it, that's all," completed Jimmy smoothly.

"I what?"

"Come on, Vortex, don't be shy. True, your intellect is not _quite_ on par with mine, but that doesn't mean you're not brilliant in your own right. In fact, I'd like to take this opportunity to publicly declare my appreciation for all the help you've given me during the past few days. You were truly indispensable."

Cindy gaped at him, glassy-eyed, as if not believing her own ears. She scrutinized his expression, but found only sincerity, and the corners of her mouth began to twitch upward into a smile.

"I don't say this very often," he continued, "but in many ways your level of talent rivals my own, albeit with your strengths in different areas. To tell you the truth, I –"

_SMACK! _Butch's chewed eraser conked Jimmy right between the eyes, cutting off his speech mid-sentence. Jimmy, somewhat cross-eyed from the impact, stumbled back a step, and the whole classroom erupted into laughter. Ms. Fowl raised a finger to chastise Butch, but at that moment the final bell of the day rang. Leaping from their desks, the students poured out of the classroom as though fleeing for their lives. A few of them nearly trampled Sheen, who rolled under Carl's desk to avoid their stomping feet. Once they had cleared the premises, Sheen peeked out from between Carl's legs.

"Is the coast clear?"

"The stampedin' buffaloes are gone, Sheen," said Libby. "You can come out now."

He hauled himself up off the floor, then sagged with relief against an empty desk. "Phew! Glad that's finally over. I was beginning to worry it would never end."

"I know what you mean," agreed Libby. "The trip back to our bodies _was_ kinda rough. It knocked the air clean outta me for like two whole minutes."

"Actually, I was talking about school."

Libby rolled her eyes, then scooted her chair back and started gathering her things. Shouldering her backpack, she took out her CD player and wrapped the headphones around her neck.

"Well guys, it's been real. I'm goin' home for a nice, long bubble-bath now, and I do NOT wanna be interrupted. If any of you so much as calls my cell, I swear that I will go public with every li'l piece of dirt I've _ever_ dug up on you. We clear?"

"As clear as Invisible Sista standing on a glass table in the middle of a fish tank."

She shook her head in exasperation. "Anyway, I'll be at the Candy Bar around seven if you guys wanna hang. But seriously. I don't wanna hear from you 'til then."

Libby strode purposefully toward the door. At the last minute she hesitated to steal a backward glance at Cindy and Jimmy, who had not moved since the bell rang. Cindy held her pencil in one tightly balled fist, while Jimmy rubbed the red spot on his forehead distractedly. Hiding a self-satisfied smirk, Libby motioned for Carl and Sheen to accompany her.

"On second thought, you boys can walk me to the bus. Let's give Jimmy and Cindy a minute to sort themselves out."

"Anything you say, my cream-puff Ultra-truffle..."

Libby hung her head in nickname-defeat, and the two boys grabbed their belongings and followed her out. Still rubbing his head, Jimmy wandered over to his desk to retrieve his personal items, and Cindy began to gather up hers as well.

"So, um...Neutron...about earlier..."

Jimmy glanced repeatedly over his shoulder at the door as he rummaged through his backpack. He answered, only half listening. "Ya?"

"What you were saying before...about me being talented in my own right..."

Agitated by something, he continued to crane his neck toward the hallway, and Cindy broke off. When he failed to notice, she tried another angle of approach.

"So...you want to meet me at the Candy Bar after dinner? The others are going to be there too, and I figured we could..."

"Huh? What?"

"_The Candy Bar_, genius," she repeated. "Meet me there?"

He stuffed the last of his books into his backpack, then slung the strap over one shoulder. "Look, maybe later, OK? I kind of need to take care of something right now."

He practically ran out of the classroom, and Cindy was left standing alone at her desk. After a moment of silence, the pencil in Cindy's hand snapped in half. Pursing her lips together, she snatched her backpack off the chair and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Ms. Fowl, still seated, flapped her arms in bewilderment.

"Did I missss somethingggbraaaawk?"

...

Ten minutes later, Butch arrived at his locker. He turned the combo dial, still picking at the bit of eraser stuck in his teeth. The locker popped open, and the usual torrent of crumpled papers and books threatened to rain down on him. He shoulder-checked it back into place, then somehow managed to cram his backpack into the tiny compartment along with the rest of the mess. When he shut the door, he found himself looking straight at Cindy, who was reclining, self-assured, against the row of lockers. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hi there, Butch."

"Uh...hi?"

"Say," she began in a honeyed voice, "you aren't busy after school today, are you No...extracurriculars or homework to tie up your schedule?"

"Eh, I _was_ supposed to go to detention, but I can blow it off. Why?" He lifted the hair out of his eyes. "You aren't...asking me out on a date, are you?"

Cindy's expression soured, and she jabbed an an angry finger in his face. "In your dreams, lamebrain. Meet me outside in ten minutes, and bring your game face. If you still want a date after I whoop your sorry hide, you can go out to dinner with the contents of the cafeteria dumpster. You'll be in for a real treat, too...I hear they made mystery meat today."

He scratched his head. "OK, not that I need a reason to fight or anything, but...why are we fighting again?"

"Here's the thing, Butch. Normally, seeing Neutron get smacked in the face with a chewed eraser would make my whole day. But this time you crossed the line. He was about to announce in front of the entire class that I'm just as smart as him, and _you_ ruined the moment."

"Yup. Just like I'm going to ruin this one."

Cindy whirled around to find Jimmy standing behind her, also leaning against the lockers with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Neutron, what the heck! Mind your own business, will ya?"

"Stop inciting brawls in the hallway, and I will," he retorted. Without taking his eyes off her, Jimmy jerked his thumb toward the exit. "Butch, the fight's off. Go home and forget this ever happened."

Butch shrugged. "All right."

He strolled off, whistling, and Cindy turned her glare on Jimmy.

"What is your problem? I had a legitimate grievance to redress!"

"With your fists?"

"Yes, with my fists! Jeez!"

"Cindy, haven't you learned anything?" he asked, with mock gravity. "Violence is never the answer. _Science_ is."

"_Science_? Are you kidding me? As I recall, it was science that got us into this mess in the first place. Or maybe you've forgotten the whole 'we're in an alternate universe and now we have to fight an evil dictator' thing. If you really think science is the answer, then you clearly haven't learned anything either."

"Well, then I guess we're _both_ defective, aren't we?" Jimmy stole a glance around them, checking for teachers, before flashing her an evil grin. "Actually, there's a reason I stopped you from beating up Butch just now. You see, after he pulled that stunt in class today, I knew I would have to take some sort of action. So, in the hallway after the bell rang, I hit him with my Hypno-ray. It was petty of me, but after this whole debacle, I'm willing to cut myself some slack. Tomorrow he'll come to school in a coconut bra and will nance about the room proclaiming his undying love for Shetland Ponies, before breaking into the Principal's office and reciting embarrassing personal facts over the loudspeaker. It ought to be a fun morning."

Her jaw dropped. "So _that's_ why you bolted from the classroom? To hypnotize Butch? Ooh, Jimmy, that's so delightfully underhanded! I approve."

"And your approval fills me with shame. But alas, I shall bear it with dignity."

She giggled. "Wow, now that I stop and think about it, this afternoon kinda feels like a step backward, don't you think? I mean, here we are ganging up on the school bully for crying out loud. I thought these adventures were supposed to teach us some kind of moral lesson. You know, make us better people, or something."

He made a face. "What gave you that idea? Since when have our adventures ever taught us anything? Tomorrow I'll go right back to making crazy inventions, and in no time at all one of them will malfunction horribly, inviting mayhem and peril on the whole town, and then we'll be right back where we started. You'll get all bent out of shape and call me a hundred names, and I'll scramble to find a solution, and things will get really hairy for awhile, but then in the nick of time we'll find a way out of it. Just like we always do."

"And when that happens, I'll go right back to hating you as much as I ever have."

"An ambiguous statement. How much have you ever hated me?"

"Uh..."

Jimmy chuckled. "All right, I'll let you plead the fifth this once." Grinning, he turned to leave, then stopped at the last moment. "You know, Cindy – the Candy Bar isn't the only place that serves dessert. If you'd care to stop by tonight, say, for a cup of a hot chocolate, my lab has open hours from six to eight. We can debrief on the last couple of days, then exercise our first amendment rights while getting buzzed on sugar."

"Sounds unimaginably dull. Will I be able to access the restricted areas of your lab?"

"Over my dehydrated, lifeless corpse."

"I'm there," she said.

* * *

Stay tuned for the epilogue, and as always, let me know what you thought of the chapter!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	53. Epilogue: First Step

Well, dear readers, this is it. The last update of all time. I literally CANNOT believe that I'm finally done. Thank you so, SO much for sticking with me all these years. Read on!

Final illustration (remove the spaces, substitute the dot with . ): acac iathorn . dev iant ar t (dot)com/Goodbye-TOSOT-267858730

* * *

**Epilogue: First Step**

The crusty, stooped alien landlord lead the way down the alley; two figures, swathed head to toe in bulky Numerian traveling robes, followed close behind him. The rain fell in dreary curtains all around the trio as they approached the end of the street. A vermin of some kind scurried past their feet and disappeared into an open manhole, and a curdling stench rose from the sewers to greet them. Grays, browns, and greens smeared the sky, and the alleyway shared similar hues. The landlord and his two companions passed the twisted remains of a lamppost, but even without its light they could see in front of them a row of decrepit housing units, as ugly and deteriorated as the cobblestones beneath their feet.

"Wull, it urrn't much," said the alien, "but it's the chuppest we 'uve."

The group stopped in front of a cracked door. An unreadable number hung askew from a peg in the center. The landlord pulled out a key ring and removed a pair of bronze keys, which he handed to his new tenants.

The taller of the two, a black haired, sad-faced man, smiled in return. "Thank you."

"Not used turr Numurrians stayin' hurr. Don't go makin turrble. Things urr udgy enough ullruddy."

The other traveler threw back her hood, revealing a cascade of tumbling auburn hair, which escaped here and there from her cloak like wisps of cumulus cloud. She smiled disarmingly as she turned the key in the lock.

"We know when to keep quiet. No need to worry about us."

The alien squinted at her, then huffed grumpily and shuffled away, muttering to himself. "Uhfull forwurd furr a Numurrian wummun…"

The woman pushed open the door, and she and her companion entered their new dwelling. Shutting the door firmly behind them, they surveyed their surroundings in silence. The main room was unfurnished except for a tattered sofa in the center and a stained futon in the far corner. The peeling, whitewashed walls were bare, except for the odd nail here and there. Beyond the main room was a small kitchen, complete with an old refrigerator, a washtub, and a jerry-rigged stove-microwave combo.

"Is it safe to change?" whispered the man.

The woman stole a glance out of the room's only window, drew the curtain, then nodded.

"Yes. We're alone."

Aurora and Future Jimmy flicked off their appearance generators, and their Numerian disguises faded away. Their metallic space suits looked starkly out of place next to their rundown surroundings.

"Thank God," grumbled Aurora. "That stupid hologram was driving me nuts."

Future Jimmy dragged himself over to the sofa and collapsed onto it, draping one arm over his eyes. He lay in silence as Aurora poked around the room.

"Ugh, who knew finding an apartment on this rock could be such a hassle?" she said. "I thought this was supposed to be a criminal paradise, not a poverty-stricken hellhole."

She chucked her suitcase across the room, and it landed on the futon, kicking up a cloud of dust. Future Jimmy heaved a sigh.

"The two are often one and the same. …Aurora, I'm still not convinced that we made the right choice by coming here. We are effectively throwing ourselves headlong into the worst crime hotspot in the whole spiral arm. Wouldn't it be more sensible to start small and work our way up?"

She shrugged. "Not the way I see it. From what I can tell, this is the perfect hiding place. The local authorities are so corrupt that folks with a mind for justice won't come within a million miles – as long as we're here, the good guys can't touch us. Besides, like I told you before, we have a job to do. And, what better place to start our work than on the most nefarious, morally-bankrupt backwater in the whole galaxy? Granted, it won't be a life of luxury, but we have to start somewhere. And, with your appearance generators, we can play dirty without giving ourselves away."

He stared over at her from his spot on the couch. His blue eyes made her uneasy, and she turned away. This wasn't the first time she'd caught him watching her like this, and though she hadn't the faintest idea what his thoughts might be, she could not abide any of the possibilities. Exhaling to steady herself, she invented an excuse to get rid of him.

"I bet those so-called appliances in the kitchen aren't working."

"Easily remedied," he replied. "Shall I go fix them?"

"Please."

He removed the Hypercube from a compartment inside his watch, then hoisted himself up off the couch.

"I know you're not the type of person to pack a normal suitcase," she began, "but I wish you wouldn't store everything in the Hypercube. That thing makes me nervous. What if you inadvertently materialize the _Half Life_ right in the middle of our apartment?"

"Aurora, the Hypercube responds to explicit mental commands. If my brain cannot distinguish between a wrench and a spaceship, then our cover _deserves_ to be blown."

Closing his hand over the device, he turned and disappeared into the adjoining room. As soon as he was out of sight, Aurora went limp with relief. She mopped the hair out of her eyes, massaging her eyebrows.

"How...How's it look in there?" she asked.

His response sounded muffled coming from the other room. "I have never seen such a disgraceful lack of rudimentary hygiene. I don't know who the previous tenants were, but their cleaning habits suggest a level of 'dense' not seen since the discovery of osmium."

"We'll have one of your robots scrub it down it later. Just...stay in the other room and keep working."

"At least I can harvest the cockroaches and put them to good use. Roach brains contain toxins that work superbly as antibiotics, thanks to the millions of years they spent evolving in filthy conditions. I could start synthesizing some basic medicines as soon as I..."

She stopped listening, overwhelmed by his company and the thought of their future mission on this gray and miserable planet. Wandering over to the window, she rested an arm against the wall and peered out. As she looked through the streaked, grimy glass, an acute feeling of loss swept over Aurora. She thought back to her childhood while staring into the middle distance. She recalled the faces of smiling friends, remembered the way the light glinted off the family portrait that hung on the living room wall. She saw the four corners of her bedroom which, once upon a time, had been covered in pink wallpaper and colorful posters. Then, like a page from a photo album, the pictures fell to the side as new ones rolled in to take their place.

Future Jimmy appeared in the doorway. "Aurora?"

Aurora didn't hear him. Chin in hand, she leaned against the window frame, watching the raindrops shatter into ripples on the broken cobblestones. Where had the years gone? Outwardly impassive, she tried to recall her mother's voice, but found the sound hopelessly faint with the passage of time. The weight of this realization hung like lead on her shoulders. Swallowing to quell the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, she thought back over the years spent with April – the struggles, the battles, and the friendship, now lost to her. Nav's laughter echoed in her thoughts, and she closed her eyes, wishing with all her heart to forget. Finally, she saw Future Libby standing alone by the shores of that red lake, arms outstretched, inviting her to see the world anew. Aurora placed a hand to her chest, filled with a deep, incurable sadness.

"Aurora? Are you all right?"

Feeling eons older than her 21 years, she turned back to face the man who had taken it all away, yet who was, paradoxically, the only one who could give it back again. He gazed at her from the other side of the room, concern etched into his face. They stood motionless, the distance between them amplified by their private loneliness and sorrow. At last Aurora reached out to him across the expanse– and for the briefest of moments, a glimmer shone in her somber eyes.

"This is our chance, Neutron," she said. "Let's take it."

**...END...**

* * *

Well, I hope you liked the ending! I wanted to leave it open enough so that you guys could imagine what comes next ;) (However, if you have any questions about what happens to the characters, I will answer them).

Now...can I ask a huge, HUGE favor of you guys? As you know, TOSOT is the last fic I will ever write; after this, I'll be transitioning into original fiction. As part of my ongoing quest to improve my writing, I've made a survey to help pinpoint my strengths/weaknesses. If you would fill it out, I would love you forever and ever and ever ^10

**SURVEY:**

_Faves!_  
1) What part of the story did you most enjoy?  
2) What's your favorite line/quote from the story?  
3) What, in your opinion, is Mara's greatest strength as a writer (characterization, sensory descriptions, etc.)? What could she improve on? (and no, "omg you're perfect don't change anything" doesn't count as an answer)

_Characters_  
1) Who is your favorite male character, and why? (If you absolutely can't pick one, name your top two)  
2) How about your favorite female character (same goes for this one)?  
3) Who is your least favorite character, and what made you dislike him/her?  
4) In your view, what character in the story grew the most/had the most challenges to overcome? Who had it the easiest?

_Character Relationships_  
1) What was your favorite pairing (canon or otherwise)?  
2) How about your least favorite?  
3) Fave crack pairing?  
4) What was your favorite shipping moment?  
5) Were there any pairings that you wanted to see happen that didn't?  
6) Which friendship did you like best? (ex: Aurora/FL, Aurora/April, etc.)  
7) Is there anything that sticks out in your mind about the way TOSOT portrays women vs. men?

_JN Universe_  
1) In your opinion, which future character seemed to be the most realistic version of their younger counterpart? Who was more of a stretch?  
2) Which character from the JN gang was best portrayed? Worst portrayed?  
3) Who do you think changed the most as a result of the adventure?  
4) What plot point was the best "tie-in" with the TV show?

_"Stuff You'd See on Your English Test"_  
1) What are some of the major themes you see at work in this story? (Themes are broad, overarching concepts – for example: the nature of evil, redemption, etc.)  
2) If you had to pick ONE word to describe what the story is "about", what would it be?

_Miscellaneous_  
1) Which illustration is your favorite? (post a link or describe it)  
2) Look-wise, who has the best character design?  
3) If you're a fangirl/fanboy, who is the object of your affections and why? If you're not a fangirl/boy, pretend you are anyway and answer the question.

Thanks again for reading! I've really enjoyed all your comments over the years!

_© Mara S.  
This story may not be posted on any other site without the Mara's permission. Jimmy Neutron and all related characters are owned by Nickelodeon, despite the fact that they were stupid enough to cancel it. All original characters belong to Mara S._


	54. Extras

Thanks for making _The Other Side of Tomorrow_ the 2nd most reviewed Jimmy Neutron fic on ff . net (Cindy would be pissed)! I can't tell you how grateful I am. Just wanted to give you a small update...I'm working on going back through TOSOT and correcting grammatical mistakes, cleaning up dialogue, tweaking plot details, etc. The changes are mostly cosmetic, but hopefully it'll all come together to make the story more enjoyable for new and repeat readers.

In the meantime, I've received a number of requests for a compilation of the illustrations (since, honestly, there are dozens upon dozens of drawings that aren't featured here). In response, I've decided to create this little "Extras" section for those insatiable TOSOT addicts among you ;-) Unfortunately, ff . net has been repeatedly removing my picture links because I guess they look like spam, so please PM me if you can't see anything, and I'll get you the links.

Full art gallery (remove the spaces, substitute . and com): acaciathorn. de v ia n tar t (dotcom)/ favourites/49763230

TOSOT one-shots: w ww .fa nfi ction (dotnet)/s/7162674/1/TOSOT_Oneshots

Mara's JN music videos: w w w . yo utube(dotcom)/user/talefromthegrandline

JN on tumblr: tumb lr(dotcom)/blog/idreamofjimmy

For lulz: acaciathorn . d ev ian tar t(dotcom)/art/The-TOSOT-Drinking-Game-298457764

Thanks again for reading! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to shoot me a PM!


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